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Robyn Buckham

Robyn Buckham

Chair of Gippsland Ports and Non-Executive Director with a career spanning steel manufacturing, higher education leadership, and governance across multiple Australian boards

Aug 3, 2026

Women on Boards - Leaders and Directors in Conversation

Women on Boards - Leaders and Directors in Conversation

Ep14 | Robyn Buckham's Unexpected Path to the Boardroom

Aug 3 · 28m

Clare Braund
Clare BraundHOST
3:15
How did you make the transition from the arts degree to steelmaking and what did running heavy industry teach you about leadership that later shaped how you sit around a board table?
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:26
The arts degree was meant to turn me into an English history teacher, and it did, and I loved it.
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:32
But the education department at that time in New South Wales thought it would be a really good idea if you went to work in Bourke or Cobar.
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:40
That was not at that point on my agenda, and so I suddenly left teaching, and I'd never intended to leave.
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:49
Tube Makers hired me as their internal communications person.
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:54
I wrote the magazine, basically, but I was in the HR department.
Robyn Buckham
Robyn BuckhamGUEST
3:58
And in those days, you couldn't be in HR without it becoming IR.
Clare Braund
Clare BraundHOST
6:18
So was it a conscious decision or was it a case of serendipity?

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