Speech
ANZSOG PROGRAM LAUNCH 2010 - 2011
27 May 2010
Mr Terry Moran AO
Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
I am very glad to welcome you all here this morning – I hope you enjoyed the breakfast spread.
First of all, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners on whose land we meet today.
As many of you would know I have had a long standing involvement with and interest in ANZSOG – extending back to its establishment in 2002.
As such I am delighted to be able to open this session today, introducing you to the ANZSOG program for 2010/11.
ANZSOG was established as a not-for-profit company in 2002 with the vision of creating a world leading educational institution that strategic management and high level policy skills to public sector leaders leaders.
The school was unique in its conception because it was formed by a consortium of governments, universities and business schools from Australia and New Zealand.
This broad involvement means ANZSOG has a large variety of people and skills to draw on in developing its programs.
The initial vision for the school is now a reality and ANZSOG is developing a broader role as a trusted facilitator that helps governments find solutions to real-world problems.
The School is also home to a substantial research program that aims to deepen government, community and academic understanding of public administration, policy and management.
Many of you may be aware that I recently led the development of a Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration – the recommendations of which were accepted in full by Government on 8 May.
The Blueprint emphasises the centrality of strategic policy skills and staff development. This means a number of things for institutions such as ANZSOG.
Firstly, the Blueprint seeks to strengthen partnerships between the public service and academia, research institutions and the community and private sectors. ANZSOG will continue to be an important partner for the Australian Public Service in this context.
Secondly, it recommends the expansion and strengthening of learning and development and aims to provide all staff members with at least one significant professional development opportunity each year.
The Government has announced that ANZSOG will have a new purpose built Canberra base, shared with the National Security College, at the ANU. It will however, remain a networked institution.
With these developments all SES will have new opportunities to acquire new skills in public policy and public sector management.
This is not to say that courses such as ANZSOG's are the only way to develop staff – there will be many options available to us to develop capabilities.
But ANZSOG programs can be immensely valuable when provided to high performing staff who have been identified as having the potential to benefit from such development and progress in their careers.
I am optimistic about the evolution of the public service partnership with ANZSOG.
It is now my pleasure to introduce Professor Allan Fels, Dean of ANZSOG.
Allan and I go back a long way. Allan was the first Dean of ANZSOG and has guided the School to become the successful institution it is today.
For those of you who aren't aware of his background, he has had a distinguished career as a public servant and an academic.
He was chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from 1995 to 2003; the Trade Practices Commission from 1991 to 1995 and the Prices Surveillance Authority from 1989 to 1992.
He has also been the co-chair of the OECD Trade and Competition Committee, Director of the Graduate School of Management at Monash University and Professor of Administration at Monash University.
I am excited about the programs on offer this year and I now pass to Allan to elaborate on these programs.