The Future of Australian Society and the Public Service

Featuring Cartoonist and Social Commentator, Michael Leunig

'The Future of Australian Society and Public Administration' featuring Micheal Leunig is a timely session that brings an exceptional line up of knowledge leaders to our audience.

Earlier this year we explored the future of the public service from an insider's perspective with Prof. Peter Shergold. This session now provides a thought-provoking discussion about how society is changing and what that means for the public service.

About Michael Leunig

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist, writer, painter, philosopher and poet. His commentary on political, cultural and emotional life spans more than forty years and has often explored the idea of an innocent and sacred personal world. The fragile ecosystem of human nature and its relationship to the wider natural world is a related and recurrent theme.

His newspaper work appears regularly in the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He describes his approach as regressive, humorous, messy, mystical, primal and vaudevillian - producing work which is open to many interpretations and has been widely adapted in education, music, theatre, psychotherapy and spiritual life.

Leunig, a noted social observer, will outline a perspective on the future of Australian society and then engage in discussion with the audience about that future. In encouraging the exploration of ideas in a humorous context that might otherwise go unsaid, the purpose of the session is to have our members return to work with a new perspective on their work.

Ultimately the imaginative discussion may trigger creative and effective solutions to the problems they are working on.

Topics Include

What are the developing societal needs that will shape demand for government services over the coming decade?
How do people feel about the public service? Is there a sense of connection?
The role of public service in inspiring human endeavour
How the public service is and might respond to the changes identified by Leunig