INTHEBLACK September 2021 - Magazine - Page 27
AT A G L A N C E
Melissa Azzopardi CPA is
general manager finance
with the Australian
Football League.
Azzopardi’s current role
follows a three-year stint
with Tennis Australia,
where she was appointed
as CFO in 2018.
Working with two
prominent sports
organisations during
a pandemic has
highlighted for Azzopardi
the need to adapt to
change quickly.
MELISSA AZZOPARDI CPA REVELS IN THE
EXPERIENCE HER WORK GIVES HER: BEING
INVOLVED IN SOMETHING CLOSE TO THE
COMMUNITY WHILE MAKING THE MOST OF
THE SKILLS HONED IN THE CORPORATE WORLD.
STORY SUSAN MULDOWNEY
PHOTOGRAPHY JARROD BARNES
ON
THE
BALL
A
fter helping to steer Tennis Australia
through its most challenging year on record,
you might think Melissa Azzopardi CPA
would take a break from sport. An industry
largely centred around travel and large crowds, it is
among the hardest struck by COVID-19 restrictions.
This year’s Australian Open alone recorded an
estimated loss of A$100 million.
However, instead of changing industries, Azzopardi
switched codes. Within four days of leaving her role
as CFO of Australia’s governing body for tennis in
March this year, she stepped into the newly created
position of general manager finance at the country’s
most dominant – and arguably most beloved –
sporting code, the Australian Football League (AFL).
Upon reflection, team sports may be more
Azzopardi’s style. She joined Tennis Australia at the
start of 2018 with a mandate to transform the finance
function and spearhead the department’s integration
into the wider business. This required building the
trust of a finance team of 30, who were somewhat
uneasy about the changes their new boss would
introduce from her corporate background.
Azzopardi also needed to foster strong relationships
with the board and the organisation’s various
state bodies to introduce the systems, processes
and governance structures required to support its
significant growth.
“I was new to sport, and the industry sometimes
speaks a different language,” says Azzopardi. “But I
love leading teams and being part of teams. I needed
to do a lot of listening and a lot of learning, but I’m
very comfortable asking questions.”
FROM CORPORATE TO COURTSIDE
Azzopardi grew up in Ballan, a town of about
3000 residents in western Victoria. Like most
country towns, its local community thrives on sport.
As a teenager, Azzopardi held the role of treasurer
for the local netball team, which may have been
a sign of things to come. However, she spent the
first two decades of her accounting career in the
corporate sector.
While completing the CPA Program in the mid
1990s, Azzopardi took up a work experience role at
Australian Unity. She spent the next two and a half
years with the insurer before switching to industry
rival QBE, then moving on to senior finance roles at
Carlton & United Breweries (CUB). She started with
intheblack.com September 2021 27