Benson Igua Saulo, Australian Consul-General & Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner
Australian Investment and Trade Commission (Austrade)
Benson Saulo is a descendant of the Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara Indigenous nations of Western Victoria, and New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea. Mr Saulo is the first Indigenous person to be appointed an Australian Consul-General.
Mr Saulo has a background in banking, investments and social impact. As Consul-General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, Mr Saulo is the Americas industry lead for Health, and leads the health team across the US, Mexico and Canada.
Prior to his appointment, Mr Saulo was the Head of Partnerships - Investments at Australian Unity a Wealth and Capital Markets business. Mr Saulo’s focus was exploring private investing into Indigenous businesses to scale their impact through employment, financial empowerment and governance.
In 2011, Benson was appointed the Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations in which he undertook a national engagement tour to gain a deeper understanding of issues impacting Australian youth. Benson then represented Australian youth at the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly as an accredited member of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Saulo became the founding director of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy (NIYLA), which engages young Indigenous Australians to develop and drive youth-led social action campaigns relating to suicide prevention, climate change, mental health and welcoming refugee and asylum seekers. Mr Saulo was selected to participate in the U.S. State Department’s International Leaders Program that enabled him to engage First Nation’s groups to explore leadership, economic development and cultural opportunities.
Mr Saulo’s work across business and community impact has been recognised as a finalist for Young Australian of the Year (VIC), Australian Human Rights Commission Medal for Youth and 2012 NAIDOC Youth of the Year – recognising emerging Indigenous leaders.
Contact: Connect with Benson on LinkedIn.