Gibb wins Lloyd O’Neil Award
Ross Gibb has been named the recipient of the 2025 Lloyd O’Neil Hall of Fame Award, presented at the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) by the Australian Publishers Association (APA).
Gibb began his career in publishing in 1981 at William Collins in Western Australia and moved to the head office in Sydney in 1986.
In 1988, he was appointed managing director of Pan Books Australia, which became Pan Macmillan Australia. He became managing director of Macmillan Publishers ANZ in 1997, which at the time encompassed the trade, education and tertiary businesses. He remained at the helm of the company until his retirement at the end of 2022.
A ‘driving force’ behind the APA’s establishment of price and availability service TitlePage, Gibb sat on the APA’s Trade Publishers Committee for 30 years. He also served on the APA board, including multiple terms as vice president. Additionally, he was a member of the Book Industry Study Group and played a role in lobbying both sides of parliament for the retention of parallel import restrictions on each of the three occasions an open market was sought.
The APA said: ‘Under Ross’s leadership, Pan Macmillan made a significant contribution in the development and growth of Australian publishing, constantly achieving sales of Australian authors’ books at record levels that were once the sole domain of imported books. Ross has also been a great developer of publishing talent.’
On receiving the award, Gibb said: ‘I am honoured and humbled to accept this award. While it is presented to me individually I genuinely feel it reflects the work, passion and dedication of the incredible teams I have had the privilege to lead. Our company was built on the foundation of collaboration, innovation and mutual respect. It is that spirit that has made this achievement possible. I also want to acknowledge the publishing and bookselling community, our partners and importantly, our authors. Without their creativity, hard work and loyalty, none of this would be possible.’
The Lloyd O’Neil Award recognises outstanding service to the Australian book industry by an individual from within its ranks, including publishers, booksellers, authors and other industry representatives with exceptional long service to the industry. The 2024 winner was Fiona Stager.
Shortlists for the ABIA book awards and business awards were announced last month. The Hall of Fame Awards will be presented at the ABIA ceremony at Zinc Fed Square in Naarm/Melbourne on Wednesday, 7 May.
Category: Awards Local news
