The Hon. Alan Brown, Chairman of IntoWork Australia, has been honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) as part of the Queen’s Birthday honours list for significant service to the vocational training and education sector, to philanthropy, and to the people and Parliament of Victoria.

Mr Brown has served the community for more than 50 years, helping to establish and support a number of local community foundations and small businesses in addition to his roles in various levels of government. Alan served as Member of the Victorian Parliament, Parliamentary Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Minister for Transport in the Victorian Government. At the end of his parliamentary career Alan filled the role of Agent General in London to represent Victoria's commercial and diplomatic interests in the UK and much of Europe.

Mr Brown has a particular passion for creating lifelong pathways for young people through apprenticeships and traineeships, serving as Chairman to Inner Northern Group Training Ltd, trading as IntoWork Australia, since 2001.

In that time the organisation has expanded into Australia’s largest employer of apprentices and trainees, and currently employs well over 1,500 apprentices and trainees, trains over 50,000 people annually and each month places around 600 employees in temporary employment positions.

Alan was also instrumental in establishing the Inner North Community Foundation, which serves more than 400,000 people across 125 square kilometres. The foundation has distributed $2.6 million in grants to community organisations within the municipalities of Darebin, Moreland, and Yarra.

IntoWork Australia Group CEO, Poul Bottern, said “As our long-standing Board Chairman, Alan Brown has provided exceptional leadership, bringing together 11 companies to form a national workforce solutions organisation serving thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of individuals across our nation. This Member of the Order of Australia is a fitting recognition of the significant contribution Alan has brought to the Australian community”.

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