Have you secured your seat for this year's event?
The "Coachella" of HR is fast approaching!
HRFest 2026 is coming to The Timber Yard in Melbourne on 18 November and is expected to draw more than 700 HR professionals, executives and innovation leaders for a full-day festival experience.
Under the banner "Rewriting the Rules of HR – Together," the event will also bring together 60 industry and inspirational speakers and 40 exhibitors at the HR Marketplace.
Who is coming this year?
This year's speakers include Dr Amantha Imber, organisational psychologist and founder of Inventium, as well as Jessica Cody, director of Inner Rhythm.
They will be joined by Joshua Cass, head of people, flight and safety at Qantas; Phil Wells, head of people development and learning at L'Oréal Group; and Marc Starfield, executive, colleague systems and experience at NAB.
Pritho Saxena, director HR for China, Australia and South East Asia at Amazon; and Seemali Shukla, people leader ANZ at HP, will also be present.
This year's edition follows last year's inaugural event, which attendees said felt more like a festival than a conference.
"It definitely turns conferences on its head - I called it the Coachella of HR," said Danielle Cain, talent programmes specialist at Coles Group, who attended last year.
What's happening this year?
This year's festival offers participants the opportunity to connect with other people in the industry through experiences designed to break the ice, such as interactive workshops, discussion tables, mixology classes, even wine tastings.
"There is something for every level, from emerging HR professionals to senior people leaders, grow and connect through creative resets, mixology classes, and lawn games alongside interactive workshops and discussions that spark new thinking," the HRFest website reads.
The festival's themes include strategic HR and executive leadership; wellbeing, safety and psychological risk; AI and technology; DEI and inclusive hiring.
Registration is still open on the HRFest website. There are individual passes available, as well as tickets for teams of three to four people and five to nine people. A special rate is also available for teams of 10 or more.
