Archive - Role Models, Northcott Society
Fundraising Event
Sydney, 1998-2004
Selected Archive Credit
Role Models was a biannual fundraising event developed in collaboration with The Northcott Society to raise funds and awareness for young people with disabilities. Running from 1998 to 2004, the event brought together women from across public life, business, arts, sport, science, media, and community leadership, placing lived achievement and authenticity at the centre of a highly visible public celebration.
The concept emerged following an early planning meeting with Jacqueline Booth and Erica Aronsten at The Northcott Society’s Parramatta head office, where the foundation of the event was shaped around a simple but powerful idea that leadership and influence are best understood through real lives, not idealised images.
Role Models, Northcott Society, Sydney, 1998.
Group portrait of the inaugural Role Models cohort at the first Role Models event.
Inaugural Role Models, Sydney, 1998
Women of Influence - 20 Role Models
The inaugural Role Models event in 1998 recognised twenty Australian women whose influence spanned business, public service, education, health, media, arts, sport, law, and community life. The list below is transcribed from the official acceptance document dated 20 May 1998 and reflects the original sector-based framing of the program.
Business and Finance
Leslie Butterfield - Project Manager, Civil & Civic Pty Ltd
Lee Ward - National Enterprise Director, IBM Global Services Australia
Candy Tyson - Managing Director, Tyson Communications
Madeline Tancred - General Manager, Chatswood Chase Management Centre
Pauline Goodyer - Associate Director, McGrath Partners Estate Agents
Education and Academia
Professor Diane Yerbury AM - Vice-Chancellor, Macquarie University
Fashion and Cosmetics
Imelda Roche AO - Chair, Nutrimetics Holdings International Pty Ltd
Leonie Whitehouse - Director, Whitehouse Fashion School
Health
Dr Alix Killen - Chief Executive Officer, Mater Misericordiae Hospital
Dr Diana Horvath AO - Chief Executive, Central Sydney Area Health Service
Home and Family
Marianne McNamara - Client Manager, Mother of Five Children
Hospitality
Nicola Logan - Head Chef, The Avenue, Chifley Square
Legal
Dr Pat O’Shane AM - Magistrate, Chancellor, University of New England
Media and Writers
Caroline Jones AO - Presenter, Australian Story, ABC
Bettina Arndt - Writer and Social Commentator
Sport and Adventure
Jannelle Falcon OAM - Paralympian
Janine Shepherd - Pilot, Author, Motivational Speaker
Visual Arts
Janet Mansfield - Editor, Ceramic Art & Perception Magazine
Ann Graham - Associate Professor, School of Contemporary Arts, University of Western Sydney (Nepean)
Organising Committee
Role Models, Inaugural Event, Sydney, 1998
The inaugural Role Models event was delivered through a formally constituted organising committee in collaboration with The Northcott Society. The committee provided governance, strategic oversight, fundraising coordination, and event delivery leadership, ensuring the professional execution and integrity of the initiative.
Organising Committee (1998):
Margaret Sachs - Chair, Organising Committee
Jacqueline Booth - The Northcott Society
Erica Aronsten - The Northcott Society
The committee worked in close collaboration with sponsors, venue partners, creative contributors, and participating Role Models to deliver an event that balanced public recognition with philanthropy, dignity, and social purpose.
Archival note
Committee names and roles are transcribed from original printed committee documentation held within the ART1 Archive. Titles reflect roles as recorded at the time of the inaugural event.
Role Models, Northcott Society, Sydney, 2004. Group portrait from the final event.
Across four editions in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004, Role Models was staged at prominent Sydney venues including the Sydney Wentworth Hotel and No. 1 Martin Place, now the Fullerton Hotel. Fashion sponsorship over the years was supported by Chatswood Chase, David Jones, and Queen Victoria Building fashion houses.
The inaugural Role Models event in 1998 featured a cross-section of Australian women whose influence spanned arts, media, law, defence, business, and public service. Participants included opera singer Emma Matthews, journalist and writer Bettina Arndt, Australian Ballet dancer Vicki Attard, Royal Australian Navy commander Vicki McConachie, senior law enforcement leader Christine Nixon OAM, jurist The Hon Mahla Pearlman AO, entrepreneur Sue Ismail of NADS, and Quentin Bryce, appearing prior to her later appointment as Governor-General and Dame of the Order of Australia.
Role Models Gala, Wentworth Hotel, Sydney
Table setting before guests arrived, and a final moment of encouragement before the event began.
In its first two editions, the event featured solo participants. From 2002 onward, the format evolved to paired participants, built around the idea of the “role models role model”. Many participants chose to appear alongside a mother, partner, daughter, business partner, or close collaborator, allowing the event to reflect how influence, resilience, and achievement are often shared rather than solitary.
Role Models, Northcott Society 2004, Frank Magazine
Ray Mather served as Parade Coordinator across all four events. His role involved working one-on-one with each participant in advance of the event, supporting garment selection, music choice, and personal confidence in preparation for the runway and interview parade. Given the professional commitments of the participants, this focused and respectful approach proved essential, resulting in relaxed, confident presentations on the night.
The events were hosted by Melissa Doyle and David Koch throughout the series. Collectively, the Role Models events raised close to $100,000 for The Northcott Society and, in its inaugural year, received the Parramatta Business Award for Best Fundraising Event.
Among many memorable moments was a fitting visit with aviation pioneer Nancy Bird Walton, who ultimately chose to wear a hand-made silk sari gown created from fabric gifted to her by a Maharaja in India, following a landing of her bi-plane on his field. The garment, rich with personal history, perfectly embodied the spirit of the event.
The donated artwork, drawn from Raymond Mather’s first exhibition series (2000), was prominently displayed at the venue entrance and credited on the official Silent Auction card.
Role Models stands as an example of community-driven cultural leadership, where fashion, movement, storytelling, and philanthropy intersected to honour achievement without spectacle. For Ray Mather, the project reflects a broader practice of creating spaces where people are seen, supported, and celebrated on their own terms.
ART1 Archive Context
This project forms part of a wider body of event direction, choreography, and community-based creative work developed prior to ART1.
View other related works and historical material in the Archive.