Keith Jackson AM

Keith Jackson is Chairman of public relations firm Jackson Wells Pty Ltd. In April 2008 he was elected President of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia.

Keith was a Cadet Education Officer at the Australian School of Pacific Administration in 1962-63, arriving in the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea in November 1963 at the age of 18. He first posting was as head teacher of the Kundiawa Primary A School in the Chimbu District.

Here he established a local newsletter, the Kundiawa News, and became a correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and a freelance contributor to the South Pacific Post and Pacific Islands Monthly.

After teaching for three years, in 1966 he was transferred to Port Moresby as editor of school publications. Soon after the ABC recruited him as a radio producer, training him at the ABC Training School in Sydney.

Keith joined the PNG Government Broadcasting Service in 1970, managing radio stations in Rabaul and Bougainville. Around the time of Independence in 1975, he was appointed head of policy and planning of the new National Broadcasting Commission.

After leaving PNG in 1976, Keith undertook a range of communications development roles in Indonesia, the Maldives, India, the Philippines and Fiji and, back in Australia, established and managed radio stations 2ARM-FM Armidale and 2SER-FM Sydney.

In 1983, after standing unsuccessfully for the Labor Party in the Federal seat of Mackellar, he became a lecturer in mass communications at ASOPA's successor, the International Training Institute. Here, in 1984, he was appointed Deputy Principal.

In 1985 Keith returned to the ABC as General Manager, Corporate Relations, responsible for the organisation's dealings with government, media and community. In 1988, he joined public relations firm Mojo before establishing his own company in 1991.

Jackson Wells is now one of Australia's longest established independent public realtions companies.

In addition to his ASOPA credentials, Keith’s has a BA in economics and political science from the University of PNG and a Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of New England. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

He was awarded the Independence Medal (PNG) in 1976 and, in 2004, appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to management and training in media, communications and public relations .

He has written widely on management and communications, including ‘Manage By The Moment’ (UNESCO), published in English and Indonesian editions.