In summary

  • The Australian Leadership Index has launched a live data dashboard 
  • The dashboard allows individuals, organisations and media to access leadership data from government, not-profits and industry 
  • It can be used to uncover trends, identify problems and seek solutions for the good of leadership in Australia

We are living in a world that runs on data. It is the foundation of everything from our social media algorithms to internet banking or GPS directions.

For organisations, data has the power to reveal both problems and the solutions.

For journalists, data tells us stories about our world.

Researchers know the power of data – and it’s often their job to collate and analyse it. Swinburne’s Australian Leadership Index collects and reports on how the public perceives the leadership of Australia’s institutions, the drivers of these perceptions, and priority areas for leaders to address to restore public trust and social licence to operate.

Co-founder of the Australian Leadership Index, Associate Professor Samuel Wilson, says, “We want the Australian Leadership Index to inspire good leadership and positive change. According to our findings, Australian leadership in 2022 can be summed up as ‘Basically competent but lacking integrity’.

“By revealing the problems with public integrity and other important drivers of leadership, we hope leaders will be able to help their organisations to respond and change.”

Live data dashboard full of unearthed insights

The Australian Leadership Index wanted to make its data more accessible to industry, non-profits, government and the media for the good of leadership in Australia.

To that end, they have launched a new dashboard.

The dashboard offers live data on leadership and public integrity for Australia’s institutions, from government to charities, retail to mining.

Users can search by sector and institution to focus in on one particular area, and then by factors such as integrity (e.g. transparency, accountability, honesty), employment opportunities, health and wellbeing, cultural inclusion, environmental impact, clear purpose, reliable decision-making, accessibility, and even “boycott intention”.

You can also filter by location, age, gender, life stage, income, education, occupation and voting preference if your focus is not what people think, but who thinks it. Do younger people perceive our leaders differently? How are women reacting to the leadership of government?

Search and filter function can be used to find new insights on the Australian Leadership Index dashboard, with a guide, tips and support available for anyone who needs help

Organisations can be better

Australia’s institutions are widely seen by the public as more concerned with self and vested interests than the public interest. In response to the question, ‘who speaks for and protects the public interest?’, vanishingly few of our institutions appear to be fit for purpose. 

Yet, organisations want to do better. In 2022, the number one priority for Australia’s institutions is to improve public integrity.

The dashboard can be used to identify the factors where governments, non-profits and industry are failing to perform – whether it’s cultural diversity or transparency. They can also tell where they’re doing well, which way they’re trending, and which demographics are being left behind.

Data allows journalists to blow the whistle

Data journalism is an area of enormous potential, with new insights, angles and story leads available to journalists with the skills to find them. Journalists willing to trawl through data and learn the skills to analyse it will have a head start on their counterparts.

With this dashboard, journalists will be able to find new stories or add up-to-date data to support stories that they’re already working on.

Available now

If you’re interested in using the Australian Leadership Index dashboard, the guide can help to get started – with tips and support available from the Australian Leadership Index team if you need it.

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