Menzies Leadership Forum
Podcast
Long-form conversations with the leaders shaping Australia's future.
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Menzies Leadership Foundation
Leadership is not the responsibility of a few.
It’s a shared capability, and a shared obligation.
FEATURE
Socrates Program, 2026
Stage I
Leadership in the AI era.
What must remain distinctly human.
We are exploring purpose, principle and human agency in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
FEATURE
Launched Ballarat, 2026
National
Reimagining a Civil Australia.
Civility as civic infrastructure.
A shared leadership capability to listen, disagree, repair and act for the greater good across difference.
A decade defined by complexity
Old models of leadership were not built for this moment.
ANU COMPLEXITY LEADERSHIP LABWe are living through cascading, interconnected change. What this moment requires is not stronger authority, but stronger connection, distributed capability, collective judgement, and the courage to act across difference.
01
Climate & planetary limits
Compounding pressure on ecosystems, economies and communities.
02
AI & technological disruption
Change moving faster than the governance built to hold it.
03
Declining trust
Institutions strained; civic life fragmenting across difference.
Our approach
THE ENGINE
Leadership capability is built through practice, reflection, connection and contribution. Our work strengthens leadership across communities, organisations and institutions by supporting people to engage with complexity, work across difference, and contribute to the greater good.
This work operates through three connected dimensions.
LEADERSHIP
IS A JOURNEY
IS A JOURNEY
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPS ACROSS LEVELS
Leadership develops across multiple dimensions, within individuals, between people, and across systems.
LEADERSHIP OF SELF
Grounded in self-awareness, resilience and the ability to remain steady in uncertainty.
It begins with knowing who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up when the ground shifts.
LEADING WITH OTHERS
Relational and collaborative, built on trust, empathy and the ability to work across difference.
It is practised in teams, communities and coalitions, where influence is earned through listening and shared purpose.
LEADING IN SYSTEMS
Understanding how systems behave, and how change can be enabled across them.
It sees the patterns beneath the surface and works with others to shift the conditions that shape outcomes at scale.
NAVIGATING
THE CHALLENGE
THE CHALLENGE
EXPLORE THE ECOSYSTEM
Explore the interactive leadership ecosystem map to see how our lines of inquiry, initiatives, partners and outputs connect across the Foundation’s work.
EXPLORE INTERACTIVE MAPLeadership in practice
WHERE THE PLATFORM
MEETS THE REAL WORLD.
EMERGING LEADERSHIP · INCUBATE
The future belongs to those who can lead in complexity.
Explore →
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP · INCUBATE
Strong schools are built on collective leadership.
Explore →
INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP · INCUBATE
Economic empowerment is leadership in action.
Explore →
CITIZEN LEADERSHIP · INCUBATE
Leadership begins in communities.
Explore →
Influence
A PLATFORM FOR
LEADERSHIP IN ACTION.
The Menzies Leadership Forum brings ideas generated through practice and insight into the public domain, and into the hands of the people shaping Australia’s future.
Stories of Leadership
News + Views
Essays, interviews and field notes from across the Foundation's work.
Read
Resource Library
Impact + Outputs
Reports, frameworks and public outputs from our lines of inquiry.
Coming soonThe movement
A GROWING LEADERSHIP
MOVEMENT.
Together we are building a stronger, more connected leadership ecosystem across Australia. This work is collective.
Our collaboration partners
Griffith University
AIME
The Ethics Centre
Rising Team
Good Return
Bridgespan
PwC
Mark Cabaj · Here to There Consulting
Paper Giant
Maganda Makers
Kimberley Jiyigas
MedTech Actuator
The University of Melbourne
Trust Waikato
ACER
Regional Leadership
SMU Cox
Colour Space
Jesuit Social Services
First Australians Capital
Collaboration for Impact
Collier Charitable Fund
Goodwolf
Global Voices
Skoll Foundation
Board Matters
Nyrstar
Australian National University
King & Wood Mallesons
Regen Melbourne
Violet Co
Australian Leadership Index
Swinburne University of Technology
Stanford Australia Association
The Cynefin Co
Systems Collaboration Partners
Coalition of Everyone
Paul Ramsay Foundation
Federation University Australia
Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics
Criterion Institute
Centre for Just Places
UNSW Founders
Alliance for Journalists' Freedom
TruMind.ai
Health Justice Australia
Australians Investing in Women
AVPN
Cool Australia
Graham Family Foundation
MARS
Economist Impact
Brightlight
Change Lab
University of Tasmania
The Wellbeing Protocol
Cool.org
Sayers
Helen Macpherson Smith Trust
ANU School of Cybernetics
Unil HEC Lausanne
Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Kravis Leadership Institute
Society of St Vincent de Paul
Elizabeth Broderick & Co
ANSTO
Australian Olympic Committee
Monash Business School
Wesfarmers
Regis Aged Care
SANE
Foundation House
Acclimatise
Join the work
BUILDING LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.
We invite partners, collaborators and supporters to work with us, to strengthen the connected system through which leadership is understood, developed and enacted.