Thérèse Rein

Thérèse Rein
Rein in 2011
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
In role 27 June 2013 – 18 September 2013
Preceded by	Tim Mathieson
Succeeded by	Margie Abbott
In role 3 December 2007 – 24 June 2010
Preceded by	Janette Howard
Succeeded by	Tim Mathieson
Personal details
Born	(1958-07-17) 17 July 1958 (age 66) Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Spouse	Kevin Rudd (m. 1981)
Children	3
Alma mater	Australian National University
Occupation	Social entrepreneur, Rehabilitation counsellor

Rein receiving the 2010 Human Rights Medal.

Thérèse Virginia Rein /təˈreɪz ˈreɪn/^[1][2] (born 17 July 1958) is an Australian entrepreneur who is the founder of Ingeus, an international employment and business psychology services company.

Rein is the wife of Kevin Rudd, who was the Prime Minister of Australia, holding the office from 2007 to 2010 and then again in 2013. She was the first Australian prime minister's wife to remain in the paid workforce while her husband was in office.^[3] She was awarded the Human Rights Medal by the Australian Human Rights Commission in December 2010 for her long-term dedication to human rights, especially the rights of people with disability. This was a point of contention as Rein's husband was prime minister during the period of the award's consideration; she was, however, awarded the medal following her husband's deposal.

In December 2012, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of the University degree by Griffith University for her services to business, and the award of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by the University of Western Sydney in April 2014, in recognition of her service to the Australian community, commitment to human rights, engaging constructively with human rights mechanisms, eliminating poverty and injustice, and the illumination of disadvantage.^[4] In 2018, she was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.^[5]

Early life

Rein was born on 17 July 1958 in Adelaide, South Australia. Her father, John Rein, was a Royal Australian Air Force navigator who had suffered severe spinal cord damage during a plane crash. He later became an aeronautical engineer and represented Australia at the 1957 Stoke Mandeville Games as a member of Australia's first ever international disability sports team,^[6] and the first Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth, in 1962, where he won gold medals in the Columbia Round of Archery and the Dartchery teams event.^[7] His achievements played a pivotal role in inspiring his daughter.^[8] He met his future wife Elizabeth at a rehabilitation hospital in Sydney where she was working as the head of physiotherapy.

Rein attended St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School in Adelaide and Firbank Grammar School in Melbourne. She studied psychology, linguistics and English at the Australian National University in Canberra and received a Bachelor of Arts with honours in psychology in 1980, and a Master of Psychology (Qualifying) degree in 1981. There she met Kevin Rudd, as both of them lived at Burgmann College during their first year of university and were members of the Student Christian Movement.^[9] The pair married in 1981 soon after graduation, before moving offshore for envoy-in-training Rudd to study diplomacy in Sweden and China. In 1986, they returned to Australia, where Rein set up the company Work Directions, now named Ingeus, to help people injured at work find employment. They have three children: Jessica (born 1983), Nicholas (born 1986) and Marcus (born 1993).^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

Business career

In 1986, she worked part-time as a rehabilitation counsellor, primarily helping people get back into the workforce.^[15] In 1988, she founded Thérèse Rein and Associates, later Ingeus. This international employment services agency assists jobseekers, in particular long-term unemployed people, enter the workforce.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

The chairman of Ingeus is David Gonski AC, a prominent business leader based in Sydney. Other directors include Rein, Garry Hounsell and Greg Ashmead.^[21]

The sale of the Australian arm of Ingeus took place in May 2007 to ensure there was no perceived conflict of interest as her husband, Kevin Rudd was the Leader of the Opposition (and later the Prime Minister of Australia).^[22] The Australian businesses sold in October and December 2007.

Ingeus re-entered the Australian market with the acquisition of Assure Programs in October 2011.^[23]

UK government contract

In 2011, Ingeus UK was awarded 23 percent of the Work Programme contract by the UK Government. Some speculation has ensued regarding funds purported to have been given in support to the employment minister, Chris Grayling.^[24] The DWP responded in a statement said that Grayling was not personally involved in the decision to award the Work Programme contract to Ingeus UK:

All commercial decisions were made through a clear governance process and the evaluation was conducted in accordance with our disclosed process. Our processes our in accordance with best practice across public sector procurement ... The procurement was undertaken by qualified (CIPS) and experienced procurement professionals. There was extensive internal and external assurance exercises undertaken throughout the procurement process.

Philanthropy

Rein has a strong involvement in charity work and is patron of the Australian Common Ground Alliance; UNICEF Maternal and Infant Health Campaign;^[25] the Indigenous Literacy Foundation; OzHarvest Food rescue; Ability First Australia;^[26] Arts Project Australia; The Bella Program at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; ACT Junior Talent Squad for Athletes with a Disability; Shakespeare on Oxford Festival at Bulimba, Brisbane. She is a member of the Honorary Board of the International Paralympic Committee.^[27]

References

1. Toohey, Paul (13 February 2007). "Meet Mrs Rudd". The Bulletin. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007. She's long insisted on spelling her name Thérèse... Her Burgmann file shows that someone has hand-penned in the acute (é) and the grave (è) above typed spellings of her name.
2. Companies House
3. McMahon, Barbara (24 November 2007). "Profile: Kevin Rudd". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
4. Australia Council Annual Report, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., retrieved 9 Oct 2015
5. "Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. State Library of Queensland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
6. Paralympics Australia (17 January 2023). "Paralympic Stories: 1957 Stoke Mandeville Games Australian Team list". paralympichistory.org.au/. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
7. Commonwealth Paraplegic Games (1st : 1962 : Perth, W.A.) (1963). "Report of the first Commonwealth Paraplegic Games : Perth Western Australia, 10th-17th November, 1962". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
8. Mann, Simon; Askew, Kate (24 April 2007). "The thing about Therese". The Age. p. 9. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
9. Thérèse Rein Archived 28 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
10. "Rudd walks daughter down the aisle". The Age. AAP. 5 May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
11. Merrit, Chris (30 January 2007). "Ms Rudd follows Ms Howard ... it's the law". The Australian. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
12. Zwartz, Barney (9 December 2006). "ALP's new man puts his faith on display". The Age. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2006.
13. Egan, Carmel (3 December 2006). "Kevin Rudd". The Age. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
14. "Kevin Rudd – Member for Griffith". Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
15. Fraser, Andrew (24 May 2007). "Rise of Rein's company". The Australian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
16. Therese Rein set for $151m payday after selling Ingeus "Therese Rein set for $151m payday after selling Ingeus". April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April 2014, retrieved 9 October 2015
17. Therese Rein sells Ingeus in deal worth up to $222m "Thérèse Rein sells Ingeus in deal worth up to $222m". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., Business Review Weekly, 1 April 2014, retrieved 9 October 2015
18. How Rein built her $254m business and why, this time, she’ll keep it "How Rein built her $254m business and why, this time, she'll keep it". 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., Crikey, 8 July 2013, retrieved 9 October 2015
19. Women in Focus "Women in Focus - CommBank". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., Commonwealth Bank, Woman in Focus
20. Homeless Fodder For NGO Money Machine, "Homeless Fodder for NGO Money Machine". 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015., Sydney Homeless, retrieved 9 October 2015
21. "Our board". About us. Ingeus. 2012. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
22. Kevin Rudd
23. Assure Programs announcement Archived 3 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 23 February 2012.
24. Wilson, Peter (14 May 2011). "Call for probe into Rein's UK contract wins". The Australian. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
25. Street, Daniel (5 August 2009). "PM's wife a champion of the poor". Nine News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
26. O'Brien, Kerry (28 October 2009). "Therese Rein – passionate advocate for the disabled" (transcript). The 7.30 Report. Australia: ABCTV. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
27. "Honorary Board". IPC. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015.

Further reading

• Wilmoth, Peter (27 May 2007). "Rein and Shine". Sunday Life Magazine.

External links

• Ingeus website
• Wife of Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia website
• Thérèse Rein digital story and oral history: Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2018, State Library of Queensland

Honorary titles
Preceded by Janette Howard	Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia 2007–2010	Succeeded by Tim Mathieson
Preceded by Tim Mathieson	Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia 2013	Succeeded by Margie Abbott