Agenda

Welcome to Country

Welcome address

CEO Update

In a period marked by geopolitical volatility, economic realignment and accelerating technological competition, we will unpack the external forces shaping Australia’s policy choices, fiscal settings and institutional legitimacy.

The emphasis is on strategic stewardship: how leaders scan for weak signals, test assumptions, and make long-horizon trade-offs that protect public value-while being able to clearly explain the rationale for direction and investment in a contested environment.

The discussion will focus on what this means for public sector governance: setting an appropriate strategic risk appetite, protecting decision integrity under pressure, and preparing organisations for second-order impacts (supply chains, energy, migration, misinformation and social cohesion).

This panel focuses on the governance mechanics behind digital trust. What needs to be in place to assure AI use, cyber resilience and privacy compliance-roles and decision rights, controls and assurance, and how accountability is demonstrated when something goes wrong. With privacy reforms expanding regulatory powers and obligations, the implantation of national AI assurance approaches, and critical-infrastructure expectations tightening under the SOCI/cyber reform environment, public sector leaders need an operating model that is both practical and defensible.

Participants will take away practical insights for governing emerging technology responsibly: ethics-by-design expectations, transparent risk and control reporting, uplift pathways for legacy environments, and targeted stewardship of capability and funding so assurance keeps pace with innovation.

• How to apply an assurance mindset to AI use
• What “stronger powers / stronger obligations” means for governance, accountability and operating models
• Aligning leadership oversight to national cyber direction and maturing uplift expectations
• What tightening directions/risk-management expectations mean for agencies and government-adjacent entities
• Practical steps leaders can take to strengthen confidence while managing real-world constraints (budget, workforce, legacy tech)

Artificial intelligence, climate transition, cyber threats, workforce transformation and increasing regulatory complexity are reshaping the environment in which organisations operate. Drawing on findings from the latest Grosvenor Annual Governance Study, this interactive session explores what these emerging challenges mean for governance leaders and how public sector organisations can build resilience in an era of continuous disruption.

• The major forces expected to shape governance over the next decade, including AI, climate regulation, cybersecurity, workforce transformation and regulatory complexity.
• Why traditional governance models designed for stability are increasingly being tested by the speed and interconnected nature of modern disruption.
• What resilience means in a governance context and how governance frameworks must evolve to remain effective.
• Practical actions boards, executives and governance professionals can take to strengthen organisational resilience today.

Charitee Davies FGIA, Associate Director, Grosvenor Performance Group

Sponsored by:

This panel focuses on board effectiveness in the public sector – how boards earn confidence through appointment quality, role clarity and conduct. In 2026, scrutiny is increasing on the proper constitution of boards, whether they challenge appropriately, and whether decisions reflect the public purpose of the entity.

• Integrity, transparency and merit in board appointment processes and why process matters as much as outcome
• Clarifying the respective responsibilities of ministers, departments and boards in appointments, performance and renewal
• Balancing continuity and refreshment, independence and institutional knowledge
• Expectations around culture, constructive challenge, collective responsibility and ethical decision‑making
• How public sector boards demonstrate effectiveness in an environment of heightened public scrutiny.

• Maintaining public trust in complex environments
• Transparency and governance expectations
• Lessons from recent public sector challenges.

A practical simulation designed to help participants understand how a conduct issue within their agency or government organisation can evolve into a broader crisis. The session will give public sector staff the opportunity to work through key decisions, accountabilities and governance challenges, while exploring how risks and issues should be identified, escalated and addressed in a timely way.

Peter Duffy​, Director – Risk & Resilience, Battleground

Craig Goldberg, CEO & Founder, Battleground

This panel examines the governance challenges unique to local government: visible decision-making close to the community, statutory obligations with limited levers, and long-term stewardship of place-based assets (roads, waste, planning, community facilities) under sustained fiscal and workforce pressure.

We’ll explore how councils maintain integrity and fairness around high-temperature issues (planning, rates, infrastructure choices), how they communicate constraints openly, and how they partner with state, federal and private actors while remaining accountable locally. The session also considers resilience as a governance discipline-continuity planning, climate and infrastructure risk, and managing community polarisation.

• Why BAU no longer exists for local government
• Managing ageing infrastructure, cost shifting and workforce shortages while maintaining core services
• Engaging communities honestly where councils cannot meet every demand
• Balancing elected member leadership, executive capability and organisational resilience
• Navigating state, federal and private partnerships without losing local voice or accountability
• Responding to community stress, polarisation and vulnerability as part of the local government mandate.

In high-pressure workplaces, many professionals aren’t failing — they’re overloaded. This session explores why constant information flow, interruptions and decision fatigue are quietly eroding wellbeing and productivity across the workforce. Drawing on environmental science, cognitive psychology and martial arts discipline, Eve Broenland introduces a practical framework to reduce mental noise and restore cognitive capacity. This session unpacks what information overload really is, why our minds struggle to disengage, and three pragmatic strategies leaders and teams can apply immediately to create clarity, improve focus, and work more sustainably — without asking people to simply “do more” or “be more resilient.”

• Realise that the difficulty of switching off is not a personal weakness, but a predictable result of sustained information overload
• Understand how constant input, interruptions, and unclear priorities drain cognitive capacity and impact our wellbeing
• Recognise which mode you are operating in — frantic, busy, hard, or sustainable work — and why that matters Know how to apply simple, practical strategies to reduce mental noise, restore clarity, and work more sustainably without working longer hours

Eve Broenland, Productivity Expert