GOVx 2025

Get ready for two days of cutting-edge insights, expert deep-dives, and unmissable panels! Leading the charge is Tony Jones, one of Australia’s most respected journalists. With over 30 years of award-winning journalism, including 11 years as host of Q&A, Tony is known for his incisive, hard-hitting interviews on the biggest issues. Get ready to unlock your leadership X-factor as Tony guides you through an action-packed event exploring some of the most pivotal events in Australian history. 

Major Alex Rubin shares firsthand experiences from his role as the Australian military contingent commander and lead planner during the extraordinary 2018 Tham Luang Cave Rescue mission. Gain an exclusive look at the high-stakes environment where lives hung in the balance, and discover how strategic leadership, comprehensive risk analysis, and cultural diplomacy were pivotal in orchestrating a successful operation. This session will delve into the complexities of leading cross-functional teams, navigating language barriers, and making critical decisions in a life-and-death crisis scenario.

- Effective risk assessment and decision-making under extreme pressure

- Bridging cultural and language divides to foster cohesive teamwork

- Leading with clarity and resilience when facing seemingly insurmountable challenges

The 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires were one of the most devastating fire seasons in Australia's history, and the response to this crisis required exceptional leadership at every level. Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell, with over 25 years of experience across a range of operational roles, played a pivotal role in coordinating the response to these unprecedented fires. Join this session as he explores leading through crisis and the valuable lessons he consistently applies to thrive in high-pressure environments and build supportive teams.

- Prioritising personal and team wellbeing 

- Leading confidently in rapidly changing situations

- Applying collaborative and innovative approaches to new challenges

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

As these rare leadership stories demonstrate across various contexts, leadership at times requires dealing with the unexpected and adapting both personally and in how you collaborate across teams. Liz Stephens will dive into the practical strategies for achieving success through an adaptive mindset and effective collaboration across government. Liz draws on extensive experience in the public service as well as mentoring at the Australian Defence College, to transform these leadership insights into real-world action. 

- Build the confidence to communicate effectively across agencies

- Learn to bring diverse teams together 

- Embrace an adaptive and resilient mindset in pursuit of individual and team goals

Drawing from lessons during and after Australia’s 2023 Voice Referendum, this session asks; how do you continue to lead and promote meaningful change when the path ahead may feel uncertain? Erin Lang, CEO of Reconciliation Queensland and a proud Bundjalung woman, has over a decade of experience working in Aboriginal communities. Professor Andrew Gunstone, a leading authority on reconciliation and Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Reconciliation at Federation University, joins Erin to discuss the critical task of finding pathways forward.

- Navigating and overcoming leadership challenges in times of change

- Continuing to drive meaningful progress toward reconciliation 

- Leading through collaboration and genuine community engagement

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

As new digital innovations improve efficiency and responsiveness, they also prompt changes to the workforce. How will your job really be impacted? How can you, as a leader, deliver more impact with this digital transformation, while managing potential challenges? Get front-row seats for an exclusive panel moderated by former Q+A host Tony Jones.

- Share strategies for building a highly skilled, digitally empowered workforce

- Explore different perspectives on AI regulation and data security

- Assess emerging initiatives and technological solutions

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders. Enjoy a light refreshment before finishing day one.

The Sydney Metro is a landmark transport project, the southern hemisphere's first fully autonomous rail network, spanning four lines, 46 stations and 113km of new metro rail. Delve into the complexities of steering mega-projects through public-private partnerships, navigating long-term government initiatives that span multiple political cycles, and practical leadership insights from Australia’s largest transport project. Louise Howard was a member of the ELT responsible for the successful delivery of the $8.3 billion Northwest Line, on time and under budget.

- Practical insights from leading complex, high-stakes infrastructure initiatives

- Sustaining momentum and motivation throughout multi-phase, multi-year projects

- Adapting to change and unforeseen obstacles to ensure project continuity

Join us for our end of day one networking. Enjoy canapés and drinks whilst getting to know your peers further, build ongoing relationships, and share your highlights of the day.

Welcome back for Day Two - there's a lot to digest from our amazing speakers and action modules so far!

Recap the key learnings and takeaways from Day One, and prep an action plan to maximise your event experience over our jam-packed second day!

Delve into the unique challenges faced during the Lindt Café Siege - the first time Australia was confronted with a hostage situation of that severity. Danny Mikati is a former NSW Police Sergeant that assisted with the counter-terrorism response, making key decisions in real-time and coordinating critical operations in a rapidly evolving situation. Not everyone will face a terrorist incident, but when it comes to leading under pressure, Danny offers a rare insight into the essential skills you need to make critical decisions and lead with composure.

- Lead confidently in stressful or rapidly changing situations

- Enhance critical thinking to make better, faster decisions under pressure

- Improve your communication skills

As these diverse leadership stories demonstrate, communicating tough ideas requires more than just delivering information; it’s about crafting a compelling strategic narrative that influences, builds collaboration, and drives change. Join Sally as she unpacks the art of strategic communication, providing essential presentation techniques for delivering critical messages when it matters most.

- Align your communication strategies with your goals

- Influence key stakeholders effectively

- Harness effective communication and presentation skills

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

In 2023 the NSW Government introduced Australia’s first stand-alone Women’s Safety Commissioner. Paving the way in policy reform and cultural change, Commissioner Hannah Tonkin leads the NSW’s five year plan to end domestic, family and sexual violence and has been central in implementing new coercive control laws. Join Commissioner Tonkin as she shares how she uses her leadership position to drive meaningful advocacy and address policy challenges. 

- Enhancing collaboration across government and non-government sectors

- Prioritising community-centred decision making 

- Achieving effective public engagement

Navigating through a crisis demands resilience and adaptability, and the COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge for leaders across Australia. The response required swift, decisive action, often in the face of ambiguity, and the ability to guide teams through extreme pressure and uncertainty. In this fishbowl discussion, leaders who navigated this global disruption will share their personal insights on the challenges they faced and provide reflections on:

- Adopting new skillsets and approaches

- Leadership perspectives from frontline to policy

- Key lessons and insights moving forward

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

Understanding and embracing neurodiversity in the public sector workplace is crucial to develop inclusive and high-performing teams. But what knowledge, skills and strategies do leaders and teams need to actually achieve this? Join this informative fireside chat with Robin Edmonds and Andrew Pfeiffer, Co-founders of the Public Sector Neurodiversity Community of Practice, as they set out a leadership pathway to achieving a neurodivergent-friendly public sector and what that should look like now and into the future.

- Achieving inclusive recruitment practices 

- Effective communication and collaboration to harness team strengths 

- Creating inclusive and psychologically safe work environments

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders.

Join renowned cognitive neuroscientist Dr Stan Rodski as he unpacks how understanding brain science can unlock your leadership potential. Drawing on decades of research and practical application, Dr Rodski will explore how neuroscience principles can help leaders enhance focus, manage stress, and optimise performance. This session will provide actionable insights into wiring your brain for resilience and sustained success in high-pressure environments.

- Understand stress and focus

- Cultivate resilience and maintain peak performance

- Optimise your leadership impact

We wrap up our inspirational and jam packed two days with this interactive action planning session. This is your chance to table any topic or trend for a final group discussion. Reflecting on the inspiring stories that have been shared, discussing your key learnings with your peers, and creating your action plan for moving forward.

- Reflect on your key learnings from the Summit

- Identify opportunities for career progression and growth

- Create an action plan for your leadership journey

Strategic thinking and problem solving

- How the current context is shaping organisations

- The role of strategic thinking in senior leadership

- Respond to emerging challenges

Enhancing your decision-making

- Cognitive principles, and tools essential for effectiveness

- Address common limitations and challenges

- Utilise models, tools and tactics to enhance overall capabilities

Advanced problem solving for senior leaders

- Objectively collect and evaluate evidence

- Explore reason-based approaches to tackle complex solving

- Apply rational and creative problem solving tools and techniques

Leading and influencing others on key issues

- Effectively engage stakeholders to understand the problem and identify potential solutions

- Integrate multi-stakeholder perspectives and facilitate shared understanding

- Resolve conflict and disagreement in group problem solving

Definition: Understanding the problem

- Reach agreement on the problem: Define key variables, known causes, structure, scope,

stakeholder impact, interdependencies and constraints

- Evaluate problem impacts

- Develop solution criteria and the problem solving approach

Analysis: Identifying and evaluating possible solutions

- Generate and evaluate solutions based on feasibility, impact, and risk

- Take stock of required skills, knowledge, and resources to resolve the problem or realise the

opportunity

- Leadership, management, planning and team deployment considerations

Implementation: from strategy to results

- Test solutions: prototypes, pilots, simulations

- Adopt a systematic approach to solution implementation

- Build engagement and embedding change

Overcoming roadblocks to strategic thinking and problem solving

- Cognitive biases, ideological paradigms and group-based

- The inherently challenging nature of ‘wicked problems’

- Cultivate your skills and maintain your edge as a strategic thinker and problem solver