Anthony John Beddison (3 October 1948 – 14 January 2020) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist, who was founder and chairman of the Beddison Group, a workforce recruitment and consultancy service.

Early life and career

Beddison was born in 1948, and educated at

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

. His first job was as a trainee for BP from 1966 to 1969. He served in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

from 1969 to 1972, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He worked as a management consultant in Europe until 1974, when he joined Drake International as a manager.''Who's Who in Australia'' (2019), ConnectWeb.

Business career

In 1977, Beddison founded SACS Consulting, a consulting firm specialising in organisational psychology. SACS merged with other companies over the next twenty years, including Hoban Recruitment and Clicks IT Recruitment.

Philanthropy and directorships

From the mid-1990s, Beddison served on the boards and committees of several organisations, sometimes as chairman or director. These included the committee of the

FINA World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are stag ...

Corporation from 2005 to 2007, the Centenary of Federation Victorian committee (1998–2000), the Moonee Valley Racing Club committee (1998–2009), and the council of the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

. He was chairman of the Australia Day Committee (1999–2004), the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

(2004–2013), and The Prince's Charities Australia (2013–2016); and director of the

Murdoch Children's Research Institute The Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) is an Australian paediatric medical research institute located in Melbourne, Victoria, affiliated with the Royal Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne. The institute has six resear ...

(2004–2013) and the Australian War Memorial ANZAC Foundation (from 2011 until his death in 2020).

Honours

Beddison was appointed as an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2002 Australia Day Honours. He was upgraded to Companion of the Order at the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beddison, Tony 1948 births 2020 deaths Australian business executives 21st-century Australian philanthropists Companions of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian philanthropists People educated at Caulfield Grammar School