Leadership, public governance and capability building: Caron Beaton-Wells’ vision for ANZSOG

What are your leadership priorities in your new role as Dean & CEO of ANZSOG?

I started in the role in February this year and am focused on ensuring that ANZSOG continues to support public sector capability development in specific areas of need across both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as in the Indo-Pacific region.

The School is responding to a broad consensus in public services across jurisdictions that they need to rebuild in-house capacity. In addition, prepare leaders for new and, in some cases, unprecedented challenges through evidence-based insights with new tools for translating insight into action.

First Nations:

I am particularly committed to building on ANZSOG’s increased focus on First Nations-related capability challenges. We are again running our Working with First Nations executive leadership program, which started last year and gave 180 public servants an introduction to First Nations culture and enhanced ways of working in partnership with First Nations communities.

We are also launching a micro-credential with Charles Darwin University on Policy in an Indigenous Australian Cultural Context, providing a deeper understanding of First Nations culture and how history has shaped relationships between government and First Nations.

And following the success of our First Peoples to All Peoples conference last year which brought together 900 people in Brisbane, we are in early planning for a repeat of the event in 2025.

How does ANZSOG's approach to education differ from a corporate-focused institution like Melbourne Business School? How does this influence your leadership as Dean?

There are considerable parallels between MBS and ANZSOG: both are independent entities affiliated with universities, and both straddle sectors – academia and in the case of MBS, the business community/private sector, while in the case of ANZSOG, the public sector.

As a business school, MBS’s MBA programs focus primarily on knowledge and skills relevant to shareholder (and increasingly, stakeholder) value, whereas ANZSOG focuses on helping governments deliver public value. That said, the need for leadership development and skills is universal and many of the challenges currently facing leaders are the same across sectors.

The importance of learning as a lifelong journey is also increasingly widely recognised given the transformations taking place in our economy and society, necessitating upskilling and reskilling as people change roles and undertake multiple careers, combined with adaptiveness and resilience in a period of constant rapid change. This means the Higher Education model needs to be and is being disrupted, to provide greater opportunities for learning to a wider range of the population and in diverse forms.

For smaller, more targeted providers like MBS and ANZSOG that are autonomous and often more responsive and agile than their larger cousins (universities), the demand for and opportunities presented by this have been recognised and reflected their operations and offer for many years. So, in that sense, we have a headstart.

What are the greatest challenges for public sector leadership in Australia and globally? With public service independence under threat, what role can ANZSOG play?

The biggest challenge is rebuilding capability and capacity after decades of corrosive under-investment so that public services can tackle significant social, economic and environmental challenges. That’s long-term work which will take decades.

The other major challenge for public services is learning to work better with the private and not-for-profit sectors who are often dealing with the same problems and have knowledge, experience and capability to share.

There is a growing focus on public sector independence, and supporting the development of ‘craft skills’ which enable public servants to manage the demands of their political masters. Robodebt has been a wake-up call that has led to greater focus on these issues. While not making specific comment on any jurisdiction, it is generally recognised that there will be particular challenges for the public sector in any jurisdiction that has had long-term government by one party.

There is criticism that the political class lacks genuine diversity. Do you see similar challenges in the leadership of the public sector?

There is a strong focus on diversity across Australian public services as they strive to build and support workforces that better reflect the spectrum of people that they serve. In particular, there is a focus on improving practices for attracting, recruiting, retaining and promoting people from First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as people with disability.

The gender pay gap in the public sector is lower than the national gender pay gap, and continuing to narrow, and at executive or senior executive levels, in a number of jurisdictions there is parity or close to parity in gender representation. The picture is similar on government boards, reflecting the 50% target set by the APS for example.

Meanwhile, on the inclusion front, there is also a concerted effort to enhance the cultural competency of the public sector workforce, an initiative being mirrored at ANZSOG.

Having built a career in competition and consumer law and academic leadership, what might you be doing if life had taken a different path?

In my younger years, I had designs on being a concert pianist! Once I went to university, I had ambitions in international diplomacy and, quite unrelatedly, investigative journalism (I dreamt of being the next Jana Wendt!).

But as is so often the case, career paths can’t always be designed, planned or controlled and I have no regrets of having followed the paths that have opened up to me along the way; the most important thing is that I have kept growing and in every career move I have made, I have looked for the opportunity to stretch myself and make a difference to the organisation that I am part of.