Puneet Varma (Editor)

Who's Who in Australia

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The Who's Who in Australia is an Australian biographical reference first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as Johns's Notable Australians. It has been used by academics as a resource that identifies Australia's leading individuals, and has been analysed when studying the social backgrounds – particularly education – of Australia's elites. The Who's Who reference is currently published by Crown Content, a reference publishing company owned by the Bennelong Group.

Contents

History

Who's Who in Australia began as the vision of South Australian sub-editor Fred Johns. Following his arrival in Australia in 1884, Johns compiled a volume of biographies of notable living compatriots. First published in 1906, Johns's Notable Australians contained nearly 1,100 entries representing a wide range of endeavours. Subsequent editions were published in 1908, 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1922, before the book first appeared as Who's Who in Australia in 1927.

Fred Johns died in December 1932, earning a reputation as one of the most reliable sources of information on prominent Australians.

Series

There are three products in the current Who's Who series including,

  • Who's Who in Australia – Prominent Australians from a range of fields, including business, politics, the arts, sport, law, entertainment and academia. Currently includes over 13,000 biographical entries.
  • Who's Who in Business in Australia – Individuals and organisations from all sectors of Australian industry, including government bodies, plus individual entries on senior employees. Currently includes 24,000 biographies and 5,000 company profiles.
  • Who's Who of Australian Women – Australian women from a range of fields, including community service, business, politics, the arts, sport, law, entertainment and academia. Currently contains 6,600 biographies of notable Australian Women.

    • The books are available in hardcopy and online for subscribers.

    Criteria for inclusion

  • Who's Who in Australia – People are included if they have significantly contributed to Australian life on a national or international level. They are people who have built a positive profile over time. There are no restrictions on age or sex and entrants need not be born in Australia. Each person's nomination is considered on its merits alone and entry in the book cannot be paid for. The book is a snapshot of Australian society at a particular point in time.
  • Who's Who in Business in Australia – People are included if they are contributing to Australian or international business on a national or international level. They are people who are considered to be significant business leaders. There are no restrictions on age or sex and entrants need not be born in Australia.
  • Who's Who of Australian Women – Women are included if they have made a significant contribution to Australian life. The contribution can be at a community, state, national or international level. There are no restrictions on age and entrants need not be born in Australia.

    • Individuals can nominate notable Australians for inclusion in the book. Criteria for inclusion are those who are assessed by the editors as having contributed "to Australian life on a national or international level". The editors assert that an entry to the book cannot be bought.

    2010 edition

    Who's Who in Australia 2010 was released December 2009 with over 420 new entries. Among the new entrants for the 2010 book were Gold Logie winning actor Rebecca Gibney, author Nam Le, chef Jacques Reymond, soccer superstar Tim Cahill and comedian Dave Hughes.

    2011 edition

    Who's Who in Australia 2011 was released 9 December 2010. Among the new entries were Hollywood A-listers Sam Worthington, Abbie Cornish and Simon Baker, tennis player Samantha Stosur, neurosurgeon Dr Wirginia Maixner, racing car driver Jamie Whincup, editorial cartoonist Peter Nicholson, masterchef George Calombaris, comedian Hamish Blake and cricket player Peter Siddle.

    2012 edition

    Who's Who in Australia 2012 was released 8 December 2011 with over 600 new entrants that included Oscar-winning producer of The King's Speech, Emile Sherman, Animal Kingdom star Ben Mendelsohn, Allan Border medallist Shane Watson, Masterchef star Gary Mehigan, sailor Jessica Watson, netball player Natalie von Bertouch and Oscar-winning costume designer Lizzy Gardiner.

    Complete list of editions and predecessors

    Editions of Who's Who in Australia and its predecessors.

    References

    Who's Who in Australia Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA