Rhys Roberts

Background

About Rhys Roberts

I have served the Australia China Business Council (ACBC) for more than a decade. I am the National President and National Chair and President of ACBC Victoria. My focus is on strong governance, disciplined advocacy, national alignment, and ensuring ACBC remains Australia’s most credible, influential, and effective voice for Australia–China business.I am Chairman of the Asia Compliance Officers Association, leading an international network of senior compliance, governance, and regulatory experts, and convene major global conferences for Fortune 500 leaders doing business in China.I lead Roberts Gray Lawyers, a specialist governance, litigation, and strategic advisory firm trusted with some of the most complex, sensitive, and high-consequence matters in Australia and internationally.The team I lead operates at the intersection of law, government, regulation, capital, and reputation. I advise boards, governments, investors, and senior leaders when scrutiny is intense, decisions are consequential, and outcomes matter.I structure and lead superior court, appellate, and High Court litigation, including public interest and government decision-making matters, often against state and Commonwealth agencies and major national and international law firms. Much of this work is confidential, reputationally sensitive, and conducted under sustained public and regulatory scrutiny.I pioneered Agile Law to address a challenge traditional models could not: how to mobilise elite, multidisciplinary capability quickly, nationally and internationally, and without compromise. Through this approach, Roberts Gray Lawyers draws on more than 173 legal and non-legal experts, enabling purpose-built teams for complex disputes and transactions. This model has delivered outcomes widely regarded as impossible, including landmark litigation and some of the largest and most complex settlements in Australian history including cross-border matters.Beyond litigation, I advise on government relations, regulatory strategy, and major inbound and outbound cross-border transactions, particularly involving China. I work closely with senior decision-makers, regulators, and counterpart institutions to help clients navigate geopolitical complexity and unlock commercial opportunity.I am an elected Council Member of the Harvard Club of Victoria and member of the Harvard Club of New York. I am a graduate of Harvard Law School’s Leadership in Law Firms (LLF) program and the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School, with full HBS alumni status.