Her Story

Ann Sherry is CEO of Carnival Australia, the largest cruise ship operator in Australasia. Carnival Corporation is the world’s largest cruise ship operator and owns P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Costa, Cunard, Holland America and Seabourn. Prior to this, Ann was Chief Executive Officer, Westpac New Zealand. She was also the CEO of the Bank of Melbourne and the first female bank CEO in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this, she was Group Executive, People & Performance and was a driver of cultural change, community engagement and customer focus in commercial and retail banking.

Before joining Westpac, Ann was First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in Canberra, advising the Prime Minister on policies and programs to improve the status of women and was Australia’s representative to the United Nations forums on human rights and women’s rights.

In addition to her executive roles, Ann is a non-Executive Director of Wilson HTM Investment Group, Chair of the Queensland Public Service Commission and Member of the Board of the Australian Sports Commission. She is a Director of Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships, Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and a Member of the Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum. She is also a member of the Board of the Tourism & Transport Forum and the Visa Asia Pacific Advisory Board. Ann is a Fellow, Financial Services Institute of Australasia, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration and a Member of the Institute of Company Directors.

In 2001, Ann was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian Government for her work on providing banking services to disadvantaged communities.

In January 2004 Ann was awarded an Order of Australia for her contribution to the Australian community through the promotion of corporate management policies and practices that embrace gender equity, social justice and work and family partnerships.

In 2009, Ann was nominated as one of the Top 15 Women in Business in the world by the Business Women’s magazine, Pink.

Strategies for Success

1. Be ambitious – don’t undersell your ability or capacity.
2. Take risks – grab opportunities.
3. Treat people you deal with respect – you may meet them again and need them.
4. Value yourself/your time/your contribution – otherwise you’ll be constantly behind or wondering why you’re doing things.
5. Keep a sense of humour.