Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward

Tour leader, Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward RN, MMgt, FACN, FCHSM (HON), Wharton Fellow, FAICD is CEO of the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and CEO of the Australian College of Nursing Foundation.

From humble beginnings, Kylie has gone on to become one of the most influential professional health leaders of the country and a formidable and passionate advocate for women, children, and equality.

Kylie has led a program of transformation at ACN, including raising awareness of the profession and building a legacy of nursing leadership, policy, advocacy and social impact, as well as creating hundreds of leadership and representation positions for nurses all across Australia.

Kylie has been awarded honorary professorships with seven leading Australian universities as well as being awarded several Fellowships, including a Wharton Fellow from the USA. She holds numerous board and national committee positions. She is known as a voice of authority and has been requested to give evidence in many Senate and Parliamentary Inquiries and the Aged Care Royal Commission.

In 2023, Kylie was awarded a Commendation from the Chief of the Defence Force, for her exceptional devotion to military nurses and for being instrumental in raising the statue of Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel at the Australian War Memorial.

Kylie is a multi-award winner. In 2022, Kylie was named National Winner of Executive / Team Leader of the Year and Overall National Winner, Outstanding Leadership Awards. She was previously named Telstra ACT Business Woman of the Year for Purpose and Social Enterprise. A keen traveller, Kylie led both the highly successful Nursing Study Tour to South Africa in 2022, and the Nursing Study Tour to Vietnam in 2023.