Steve Vizard - Other Contributions

Other Contributions

From 1990 to 2005, in addition to his on and off air roles with Artist Services, Vizard pursued a number of other business interests and public service roles.

In 1996, was appointed a Director of the telecommunications company Telstra Corporation Limited, a position he held until his decision to retire from 17 September 2000 and not stand for re-election to the board

As President of the Screen Producers Association of Australia from 1995 to 1997, Vizard was an advocate for the establishment by the Australian Government of the Australian Commercial Television Production Fund to produce high quality Australian television drama telemovies and series. Vizard subsequently served on the Board of the ACTPF from 1995 to 1998.

Vizard has been an advocate for promoting Australian-made content on Australian television, radio and media. In delivering his 1999 Andrew Olle Media Lecture, Vizard advocated the need to maintain Australian quotas for all Australian commercial television networks as well as proposing that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Broadcaster, should be more fully funded and should commission and broadcast exclusively Australian content.

In 1998, Vizard was elected as a delegate for his home state of Victoria to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention in Canberra, representing the Australian Republican Movement. After the constitutional convention, Vizard wrote the book Two Weeks in Lilliput: Bear Baiting and Backbiting At the Constitutional Convention (ISBN 0140279830). The book became a best seller and was a prescribed text on the NSW HSC syllabus.

From 1998 to 2005, Vizard was the President of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia's oldest and most richly endowed Art Museum, founded in 1858. Under Vizard's presidency, the Gallery commenced and completed two extensive public Museum building programs: the $150 million renovation of the International Gallery to house the International collection, including the 100 European masterpieces, Rembrandt to Picasso valued at over $2 billion; and the $400 million construction and opening of the new Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, the only major public art gallery in the world dedicated to Australian art.

From 2001 to 2005, Vizard was Chairman of the Victorian Major Events Company which attracts major sporting, arts and cultural events to Victoria and Australia.

During Vizard's chairmanship events won by VMEC for Australia included the World Cycling Championships, World Gymnastics Championships, World Cup Soccer Qualifiers, International Rugby Tests, the renewal of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, World Superbike Championships, World Swimming Championships, Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, and others.

In February 2002 Vizard was the Convenor with the Premier of Victoria of a National Population Summit at which 50 of Australia's most prominent leaders spoke to over 1,000 delegates in a bipartisan debate about all aspects of Australia's population. The bipartisan resolutions from the Summit and the speeches were edited by Vizard and published by Penguin in Australia's Population Debate.

Other organisations with which he has acted as a Director or a Trustee include Film Australia, Australian Children's Television Foundation and the Transport Accident Corporation. From 1997 to 2005,Vizard served as a Member of the Committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club.