2013 Program Launch

Nationals Member for Western Victoria David O’Brien launched the second annual Leadership Great South Coast program in Warrnambool today, designed to give future leaders in the Great South Coast region specialised leadership skills training.

Representing Deputy Premier Peter Ryan at today’s event, Mr O’Brien said the program was aimed at new and emerging leaders, with participants sourced from the business, government and community sectors.

“The Leadership Great South Coast program aims to strengthen the capacity of participants in regard to economic, environmental and social opportunities and challenges, in what is a very challenging but also rewarding course,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The program emphasises connectedness to the region and between sectors, with participants able to develop skills and knowledge in ethics, lobbying, communication, pro-active problem solving and the creation of cross-sectoral partnerships.

“The program shines a spotlight on this region’s future, with the intention of expanding knowledge, with ethical decision making capacity and leadership ability.”

Member for South-West Coast Denis Napthine said the Victorian Coalition Government had provided $520,000 towards the Leadership Great South Coast program’s four year run, through the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund.

“The Victorian Coalition Government has provided an overall $6 million in funding toward nine Community Leadership Programs throughout Victoria over a four year period (2012 to 2015), which included the Victorian Regional Community Leadership Programs Secretariat,” Dr Napthine said.

Mr O’Brien said the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund represented the Victorian Coalition Government’s commitment to drive development across the state, and to ensure regional Victoria remained a key contributor to the state’s future growth and prosperity.

“Regional development increasingly requires strong leadership at a local level, and the nine Community Leadership Programs are a wonderful way of bringing such future candidates to the forefront,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The Victorian Government is committed to improving communities, creating jobs and enhancing the quality of life for people living in regional Victoria.”

2013 Scholarship Recipients Announced

Leadership Great South Coast is pleased to announce the following scholarship recipients for the 2013 Program and would like to thank Scholarship Sponsors for their ongoing support of the Program.

1. Women’s Health and Wellbeing Barwon South West – $2800
   Carole Weise, Aspire
2. Committee for Portland – $1500
   Lynda Smith, Portland District Health
3. Committee for Portland – $1500
   Sally Obst, Wannon Water
4. South West Community Foundation – $2000
   Nathan Anderson, Office of Minister Napthine
5. South West Community Foundation – $2000
   Ronan Corcoran, Colac Otway Shire
6. Deakin University – $1500
   Lowell Hunter, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated
7. Warrnambool City Council – $3300
   David Maher, Sinclair Wilson
8. Gardiner Foundation – $2500 x 2
   David O’Connell, Britnell Farms
   Janet Sloan, Agri Business Consulting Services

Program Day 13 (Education)

Our final Program Day for 2012 was both challenging and enlightening for the participants. The morning session, titled Understating your Community was presented by Sally Sudweeks from Beewise Inc. The tailored four hour session provided an introduction into the work of Dr Ruby Payne (Bridges out of Poverty).

The session was opened up to Managers and Leaders in the community providing them with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the Bridges out of Poverty training and the benefit of this training for their staff.

One LGSC participant noted that the training…opened my eyes to a world that I knew existed but had no appreciation of. The ‘culture’ of poverty is what really hit home to me and I am trying to understand how we break this cycle. An amazing insight from Sally who was a very passionate but balance presenter.

The afternoon session (hosted by RMIT University) included a presentation by Anne Murphy, Executive Officer, Glenelg and Southern Grampians Local Learning and Employment Network. Anne presented education statistics from the OECD, National, State and regional perspectives. Of particular interest to the group was the lower than average Year 12 or equivalent completion rates for Glenelg and Southern Grampians Shires.

So how do we help? Tracey McDonnell from the Standing Tall Project (Baimbridge College) gave an overview of the benefits of mentoring and how one hour a week can make a significant difference in a young person’s life. Often a mentoring relationship can be a life changing experience for a child.  Tracey’s passion for mentoring was evident and infectious.

We would like to thank our sponsors, Southern Grampians Shire and RMIT University, who assisted us in presenting the Understating your Community workshop.

Trip to Victorian Parliament – 15 November

The 2012 Program made the annual trip to Victorian Parliament on 15 November.  Hosted by Leadership Victoria in the Old Treasury Building, Spring Street, the participants were exposed to a number of high profile leaders.

Our first speaker of the day, Mary Harney, was recently appointed as CEO Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation. Previously Mary was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of research and Director of the Office for Cancer Research, at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. 

Mary passionately shared her thoughts on leadership including gems like: be a model not a critic and effective leaders need effective followers. She also highlighted that ordinary people do extraordinary things and challenged the group to reflect on their potential.   

The group also enjoyed a tour of Parliament House, experienced Question Time and were hosted for lunch by Mr Simon Ramsay, Member for Western Victoria. The Hon. Hugh Delahunty, Member for Lowan and Minister for Sport and Recreation, Veterans’ Affairs joined the group for lunch and was open and candid in his discussions with the participants and generous with his time.  Mr Ramsay and Minister Delahunty provided insights into their political careers and goals and their leadership styles.  The group also gained tips on effective lobbying techniques which they can now add to their kit bag.

The trip to Parliament was an eye opening experience with one participant volunteering that she ‘was lost for words’ which she noted was unusual.  The day aimed to expand the participant’s knowledge and understanding of Victorian Parliament and demystify the parliamentary processes and we succeeded in doing.  

Our afternoon speaker was Mr Stephen Mayne, Melbourne City Councillor and author of the Mayne Report. Stephens’s passion for politics, shareholder activism and freedom of speech became evident to the group very quickly. He spoke articulately about the need to consider who has the incentives in establishing policy and the importance of well-designed and transparent systems and processes within organisations. He challenged the group to think about the need for flexibility and stressed the importance of respecting everyone’s opinions. He also highlighted that as leaders it is importance to maintain the ability to change.

To finish the day Richard Dent, Executive Director, Leadership Victoria highlighted once again the importance of ethical leadership (this has been a consistent them throughout the Program).  Richard reviewed the Leadership Victoria framework and challenged the participants to consider the importance of remaining focused on the ‘big picture” and being clear on vision and the importance of influence.  It is important the leadership development is focused on developing leaders for their organisations and has a positive social impact. It is a combination of developing oneself, one’s organisation and one’s community Richard highlighted.

Richard noted that it is also imperative for leaders to understand the local, state, national, international and global contexts within the government, community and corporate sectors.