His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM,

Governor of Western Australia

The Dawson family have been part of the early colonial settlers over five generations of farming and law enforcement. Chris Dawson’s great-great-grandparents arrived in the then Swan River colony in Western Australia in the early 1800s.

Chris was educated at Perth Modern School before joining the Western Australia Police Force as a cadet in 1976. Chris joined the Western Australia Police Force in February 1976, going on to provide 46 years of service in Australian law enforcement.

He served in country and metropolitan positions criminal investigation, training and senior roles. After 10 years as Deputy Commissioner, Chris left WA Police in 2014 to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, formerly the Australian Crime Commission. He also served as Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology during this time.

Chris was appointed as Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force in August 2017. During the period of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Chris has coordinated the State of Emergency since March 2020 as the State Emergency Coordinator.

Chris was sworn in as the 34th Governor of Western Australia on 15 July 2022.

Miriam Gluyas

Keynote Speaker 2025

Commissioner Miriam Gluyas is the Territorial Commander for The Salvation Army Australia and Chair of its Board of Governance. In this role she holds many responsibilities but the most significant one to note is her responsibility for the spiritual leadership and direction of The Salvation Army Australia.

Having served The Salvation Army for almost 40 years in various appointments, Miriam’s favourite roles have been as a church planter, pastor and Chief Secretary in Papua New Guinea, and Divisional Commander of the NSW/ACT Division.

Miriam has a heart for people and is committed to seeing lives transformed across our nation. She particularly enjoyed her work with youth and children, as well as her divisional and territorial roles, saying it’s the people she has met along the way that have made it an amazing experience.

Commissioner Miriam Gluyas is motivated by co-founder of the Salvation Army Catherine Booth’s quote, ”There is no improving the future, without disturbing the present“ and believes that God is doing some amazing things, and will continue to do so.