Crawford School of Public Policy

Investing in today’s Australian public service officers will bring greater security for Australia’s tomorrow. And the Executive Master of Public Policy (EMPP) at Crawford School provides the ideal opportunity to do just that.

“Getting fit for the future has never been more important for our experienced and senior public servants,” says Professor Helen Sullivan, Director of Crawford School of Public Policy and Course Convenor of the Executive Master of Public Policy.

‘Fit for the future’ and the current Independent Review of the APS was the focus of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT) annual conference, which was held in Canberra on the 7 November 2018. Professor Sullivan attended the conference that looked at how best to manage future challenges for the APS in a global context.

Professor Sullivan feels that specialised education is one of the APS’ strongest assets.

“We’re in a time of unprecedented focus in the APS on upskilling the knowledge, skills and know-how of our public service,” she explains. “And we should all be taking real advantage of these opportunities for professional development.”

Professor Sullivan says that Australia’s current mid and senior level public officers are the people who will be central to Australia’s policy and public programs future. And they will do so while navigating a rapidly evolving era of global interconnectedness, with new forms of social trends and technologies and cybersecurity issues. Understanding the ways in which ethics and integrity are essential to leadership will be central to a trusted public service.

Therefore, assisting the APS to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to deal with Australia’s future landscape of policy challenges is of vital importance.

“We have a window of opportunity for Australia to lead international reform in the public sector, as well as learn from those around the world who are striking the right balance between good policy and sustainable outcomes,” says Professor Sullivan.

“The ability to see and work in a long-term lens that can weather the tides of political thinking is now a defining feature of our true grit in the Australian public sector,” she explains.

And that is where Professor Sullivan believes that Crawford School comes into its own.

“Crawford School sees its role as a premier public policy institution partnering with the APS,” she says.

The EMPP at Crawford School is a new program that has been specifically designed for senior and experienced public service officers. The executive-style learning experience limits its numbers to ensure a high-trust, high-performance learning environment.

One of the EMPP’s primary objectives is to develop close professional rapport among the participants.

“We’ve managed to curate the EMPP in a way that will minimise the time out for learning to a one-year Masters degree,” says Professor Sullivan. “We want to maximise the capability enhancement of case study-based learning in a small group environment.”

Professor Sullivan is confident that EMPP graduates will take their networks with them into their future careers, retaining the support and shared learning of the program.

“They will develop their own set of senior professional networks that endure well beyond the one-year course. This provides invaluable support as these inspiring people go on to lead and make real change in Australia’s policy future,” she says.

Applications to commence the EMPP in Semester 1 2019 close on 20 January 2019.

Learn more about the EMPP at the ANU Postgraduate Information Evening on Thursday, 15 November, at the Hyatt Hotel from 5pm-7pm.

The Independent Review of the APS is led by an independent panel with public and private sector experience, both in Australia and internationally. The panel will report to the Government in the first half of 2019. Join the conversation about the future of the APS by 2030.