Leadership initiative at Swinburne

Swinburne University of Technology today announced the establishment of a new Centre for Leadership and Public Interest.

The new centre aims to develop innovative approaches to public interest issues by encouraging rigorous reflection and engagement across leaders in government, business, community, education, media and professional bodies.

Its establishment is a direct response to a challenge by Swinburne alumnus Stephen Graham for the university to consider its contribution to the quality of leadership in Australia. Graham has actively and generously supported the centre's creation.

Located within Swinburne's Institute for Social Research (ISR), the centre will be headed by executive director Steve Harris, who has had wide experience in business, public policy and media. He is a former publisher and editor-in-chief of The Age, editor-in-chief of the Herald and Weekly Times, and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University.

"It is clear that leadership and public interest matters are foremost in the minds of people throughout the community, and that numerous challenges and opportunities exist," Harris said.

"We hope to make a real contribution through research, course development, leader engagement and public/media engagement.

"I am especially keen to ensure the centre's work crosses professional, disciplinary, political, generational and cultural divisions, and I think this fits well into Swinburne's broader ambitions."

The resources and activities concentrated in the centre will build on existing strengths in the ISR, including its research flagships and the Public Interest Journalism Foundation, Australian Policy Online, the Democratic Audit and the chair in Victorian State Parliamentary Democracy as well as existing short courses in public sector leadership.

The deputy director of the ISR, Professor Denise Meredyth, will be the centre's research director.

The centre is also affiliated with the Eidos Institute, a public policy think tank focusing on research-informed human capital, productivity and wellbeing policy. The institute draws on more than 50 government and university institutes and centres.