David Hill (born 20 June 1946) is an English-born Australian business leader and author.

Background and early career

Born

out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the lar ...

in 1946, into an impoverished family of four boys, Hill and his twin brother spent time in

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

children's home in

Barkingside Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of ''Fullwell Cross'' which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east o ...

. Hill's early years of schooling were at Bourne Junior Primary School. He migrated to Australia together with his elder brother and twin brother in April 1959, aboard the '' SS Strathaird''. His mother arrived in Australia a few years later. Prior to departing England, Hill and his brothers had enrolled to attend Fairbridge Farm School in

Molong Molong is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire. History The name Molong comes from the Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'. William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. H ...

in the Central West region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , e ...

. Hill has since written a book about the experiences of the child migrants. The documentary '' The Long Journey Home'' was aired on ABC TV on 17 November 2009, detailing some of the history associated with Fairbridge Farm School and other

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...

s of that time. He also became a passionate and effective advocate for British and Australian government recognition that child migrants had been poorly treated. Prior to his rise to prominence in business circles, Hill was variously a hardware shop assistant, a sandwich cutter, a labourer on building sites, a refuse collector and gardener; he sold tennis coaching courses, worked as a barman, waiter, pub

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

, delivery agent, tutor at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

, journalist, investment bank worker, an accountant, and was in charge of the

NSW Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party o ...

Ministerial Advisory Unit.

Career

Having in 1978 been appointed an Associate Commissioner of the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsi ...

in 1982, at 36 years of age, Hill was appointed as the chief executive of the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

, serving until 1987. He remained as a director of the State Rail Authority until 1997. Hill served as chairman and managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1987 to 1995, head of Soccer Australia, chairman of

Sydney Water Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a New South Wales Government owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the B ...

, director of the

Australian National Airlines Commission Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Brand ...

and Chairman of CREATE, a national organisation responsible for representing the interests of young people and children in institutional care. A former North Sydney rugby league junior, Hill was president of the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

Rugby League Football Club between 1989 and 1992. He was instrumental in the eventual ban on cigarette sponsorship of the game. Hill is strongly in favour of the return of the

Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of the architect and s ...

to Greece. As well as being a member of the British

Marbles Reunited {{Infobox organization , name = Marbles Reunited , image = Marbles_Reunited_logo.svg , alt = Marbles Reunited Logo , caption = Marbles Reunited Logo , abbreviation = MR , formation = Founded in 2001 by ...

campaign, he is the founder and current chairman of the

International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is a campaign group, which joins various organizations around the world whose primary aim is to bring about the reunification of all the surviving Parthenon Sculptures ...

. He was an unsuccessful political candidate representing

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

for the

Division of Hughes The Division of Hughes is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was created in 1955 and is named for Billy Hughes, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. Originally a marginal L ...

at the 1998 federal election. Hill has written a number of non-fiction books on Australian history, including histories of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

and early colonial New South Wales.

Personal life

Hill married Stergitsa Zamagias in 1998, and together they have a son. They live in Sydney.

Selected published works

* * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, David Chairpersons of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 1946 births Living people Australian chief executives Managing directors of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australian human rights activists Australian historians English emigrants to Australia Australian people of Scottish descent Australian maritime historians Sydney Water