Gemma Acton

Hello!

Gemma is a seasoned professional presenter with experience gained from on-air reporting in close to 20 countries alongside ongoing live television studio and events work. She also helps to run broadcast and digital newsrooms across Australia in her role as Director of News Operations for Australia’s most-watched news network Seven West Media.

Gemma has corporate credibility – having cut her teeth as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and other top global firms, she continues to speak to the country’s foremost business leaders and entrepreneurs in both her television and live presenting work.…

Gemma is the former Network Finance Editor at 7 News - in which capacity she presented the latest financial and business news to audiences across the entire country. She is still a regular guest and fill-in host across several of the network’s broadcast news programmes.

Prior to this, she hosted broadcast programmes at CNBC International in London and also worked as an on-air correspondent pursuing stories across Europe for the global network.

Gemma is a regular guest on radio shows and podcasts - and frequently joins private and corporate functions and charity events as an emcee, panelist or keynote speaker.

Returning to Australia in late 2017 was a lovely homecoming after she spent 18 years abroad living, working and studying in cities including London, New York, Dubai, Milan & Paris.

In addition to broadcasting, during this time, she worked in investment banking and wealth management at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and PIMCO.

Gemma also gained an MBA/MA from the Lauder Institute and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a BA from University College London and the highly prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst qualification.

Gemma frequently interviews chief executives, company founders, fund managers and industry experts - as well as everyday Australians - to understand how changes in our economy and society affect all of us.

In her spare time she loves to swim, ski, read classic literature, spend time with her family and do battle with cryptic crosswords!

Gemma works with the most influential brands

Work with Gemma

Conference MC

Gala Host

Corporate Video Interviewer

Panel Moderator

Keynote Speaker

Travels from Sydney

From interviewing top executives in a quiet studio to hosting a lively gala dinner for 1,400 international guests, Gemma is equally at ease – and – more importantly – knows how to put her clients and audiences at ease.

Clients turn to Gemma when they want to ensure an event

Runs smoothly with someone at the helm who can run the ship if something (inevitably!) doesn’t go to plan
Maintains the momentum, pace and vivacious energy of live television; and
Elevates discussions to be intelligent, stimulating and appropriate for the type of event and its audience

Gemma loves getting to know her clients and their industries and enjoys maintaining long-term relationships with many through repeat engagements.

Client Testimonials

Gemma is a natural on-stage, bringing confidence and charm when presenting to large audiences, conducting engaging interviews with keynote speakers and subject-matter experts, and adding her intellect and insights to nuanced business conversations. A consummate professional, Gemma was well prepared and an absolute delight to work with.

Marijana Simunovic

MD, Weave

Gemma was a fabulous MC for our 2 day offsite. Whilst professional and impeccably presented, she has a natural and authentic style that make people immediately warm to her. It was like she knew GPT and showed her own connection to our purpose and vision for the conference. She was the glue that held each of the conference components together. We thoroughly enjoyed working with her.

Events Team

The GPT Group

From Zoom calls to Silicon Valley, to Fireside chats with Australian icons, to Financial Crimes panel discussions, to blowing our minds about the future, Gemma held the audience, speakers and the energy together throughout. Her ability to stitch the sessions together with a common thread, that culminated in a succinct summary at days end, Gemma I believe was the key to our events success.

Clare Mitchell

Indue

Gemma was a delight to work with from start to finish. She was very engaged in the preparation and tailored her presentation exactly to our brief. She is an exceptional talent to work with and very articulate and polished in her delivery.

Sarah Gundlach

Senior Consultant, Character + Distinction

Her engaging manner, her openness and honesty kept the entire audience engaged. Feedback from guests was unanimously positive, with everyone being grateful to Gemma for the way she was able to take quite complex matters and distill them into easy-to-understand and actionable insights.

David Skapinker

Head of ANZ, Telum Media

We cannot thank Gemma enough for her contribution to the night. She was prepared, articulate, amusing and engaging with our panel which set up a fantastic night!

Andrew McKillop

The Bulletin Group

Gemma navigated both sides of the debate with expertise, demonstrating her ability to tease out complex ideas and ask questions with both balance and insight. Gemma’s extensive knowledge of the finance sector, and ability to think on her feet, were key in bringing together the disparate sides of this discussion.

Pippa Budge

Melbourne Museum

Gemma was knowledgeable, energetic and engaging - and skillfully helped our panelists to keep the audience interested and entertained from start to finish.

Ryan Larnach

Head of Corporate Reputation, Freuds

Attendees remarked to us in feedback about how enjoyable it was to listen to Gemma’s digestible and actionable contributions. She tailored her engagement to the audience perfectly, energising the room with her motivation and infectious personality.

Steph D'Souza

Head of Communications, RateSetter Australia

While Gemma does not normally work in AI, she arrived well prepared and well researched, with an excellent grasp of the overarching themes and questions to cover. She very ably guided the discussion, creating a rapport with both the expert panellists and our audience.

Lauren Greschner

Program Manager, CEBIT Australia

Gemma hosted the summit like a consummate professional, keeping the sessions informative, revealing and entertaining, allowing time for each speaker while keeping the pace up. She is a pleasure to work with and I recommend her wholeheartedly.

Dominic White

Head of Corporate Affairs, TEG

Thanks Gemma, we just loved having you as our MC today leading us through the programme. Very appreciative!

Tracey Martin

CEO, AusAgritech

Gemma commanded the room with her thoughtful questioning, insightful commentary and ability to distill the complex nature of APIs, regulation and cross-border payments into something that was easily understood…It was little surprise then that this was one of the most attended sessions of the conference.

Anhar Khanbhai

Wise

Gemma was fantastically professional from start to finish, holding the whole package together, and getting us through the content right on schedule. There is no way we could have got the program away so smoothly without her… her strong business background was demonstrated both during the event and in the post-event discussion afterwards.

George Sidis

Managing Director, IDE Group

I cannot say enough about how great Gemma was to work with. She is deeply researched on the topic and the person she interviews, completely understood the audience and knew exactly what it takes to drive an engaging fireside chat. Due to her extensive experience she gave us useful teachings and tips throughout the whole process.

Antonia Sanda

Head of Communications, Facebook Australia and New Zealand

Your involvement elevated both events considerably. The insights you provided across your own economic commentary in addition to the facilitation of key question and answer and panel sessions was very well received. I really appreciated the additional conversations with participants and guests during breaks and both pre- and post- events.

David Williamson

CEO, Melbourne Innovation Centre

Gemma makes the complex task of moderation appear almost effortless. She is deeply knowledgeable and intuitively understands how to bring the best out of speakers and panellists, as well as how to engage their audiences.

Tom Matthews

Head of Communications & PR, Swyftx

An absolute pleasure and delight to work with, she brought so much professionalism and pride to her role and kept the room of more than 400 guests captivated. Her keen attention to detail and ability to read the room made a significant difference to the night’s proceedings and contributed to the event’s overall success.

Lia Alexandrou

Brand & Communications Manager, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation

Gemma was the best speaker at our Convention, no contest. She has an extremely energetic & creative style & tailored her presentation to our company in an excellent way. I would recommend Gemma as a keynote speaker for any event.

Penny Harrisson

Events & Sponsorship Manager, NSW Strata Community

A true professional, she handled the audience well and the conference wouldn't have been the same without her. Our team had a great time working with her, and we'd be thrilled to have her back on stage again in the future.

Sara Rawis

Conference & Event Manager, Lonsec

Gemma was an excellent addition to the IMARC speaker faculty, not only in the capacity of Emcee for the IMARC Gala Dinner, but also for the all-star, all-female panel discussion...Gemma’s business acumen, interests in understanding her audience, and also stage presence and professionalism made her a great choice for our evening’s event.