Olivia Lanchester to step down as CEO of Australian Society of Authors
July 16, 2024
The Board of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced that Olivia Lanchester, its CEO for the last five years, will be stepping down later this year: see here.
Before becoming CEO in 2019, Olivia was the ASA’s Legal Services Manager for four years.
Among the many things she has achieved for her members, she has been a tenacious, dedicated and successful advocate for their interests in the policy arena. Her representation of authors’ interests was key to the recognition of writers and writing in the National Cultural Policy, including the introduction of the digital lending right scheme and Writing Australia.
Olivia worked closely with colleagues in the creative industries to develop aligned positions that would provide the greatest chance of success. At Copyright Agency we have valued her strategic thinking and advice on the perspectives of authors. This has particularly been the case since Generative AI became mainstream, and we look to shape policies and practices that recognise and preserve the value of authors’ work to society.
Olivia will be missed as a colleague by many, including us. We wish her well in her future endeavours.