John W.H. Denton
John W.H. Denton is a Partner and the Chief Executive Officer of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, a premium independent law firm based in Australia.
John is a global leader in three arenas; a legal expert in the areas of government, workplace relations, and international trade and investment; a national business leader, and an international adviser on global policy. His advice is sought by the nation’s most prominent corporations and by governments and international bodies alike.
John is one of three Prime Ministerial representatives on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC); Chair of ABAC’s Finance and Economics Working Group; Chair of the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) Global Engagement Taskforce; board member of Asialink and Asia Society; Chairman (emeritus) of the Experts Group on Trade and Investment in Indonesia and a founding member of the Australia-China CEO Roundtable meetings.
John is one of two originating members of the B20, the business reference group of the G20 and is a member of the Australian B20 Leadership Group. He is also a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) G20 CEO Advisory Group, the primary body for establishing the direction of business input within the G20 process.
John was a member of the Australian Government advisory panel overseeing the development of the ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper. He was on the Government’s Cabinet sub-committee for the White Paper review process published in October 2012 and later a member of the Strategic Advisory Board advising the Government on implementation and emerging policy issues.
John was a government-appointed panel member of the Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness and has been Chairman of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Australia for more than a decade.
He is a former diplomat, has a double degree in Arts and Law, and is a Harvard Business School alumnus.
He is recognised as one of the best labour law practitioners in the Asia Pacific by Asialaw Leading Lawyers Survey and one of Australia’s best government and trade lawyers in the Best Lawyers peer survey.