9th Risk Management in Government Congress – Draft Agenda

21-22 May 2025, Melbourne

 

Building accessible and enthusiastic engagement with risk appetite

  • Explaining risk appetite effectively to your colleagues and leaders
  • Balancing risk appetite with tolerance in an uncertain environment
  • Building senior engagement with risk appetite despite the drive towards ideals
  • Supporting colleagues across the organisation to take risks responsibly in line with corporate values

Dr Mark Sullivan, General Manager Risk Audit and Resilience (Chief Risk Officer), National Disability Insurance Agency

 

Communicating your key risks across the organisation

  • Developing a thoughtful approach to explaining risk to non-experts
  • Targeting your risk messaging around your audience
  • Engaging on constructive conversations around risks
  • Encouraging others to communicate potential risk vectors to your team

Michelle Holland, Chief Risk Officer, Queensland Police

 

Improving your executive buy-in for risk mitigation projects

  • Approaching your executive leadership strategically when seeking buy-in for risk strategies
  • Ensuring your communication with executive leadership is effective
  • Demonstrating the importance of managing a given risk with data visualisation
  • Developing sustainable risk strategies with measurable positive impacts

Gael Evans-Barr, Executive Director Governance and Portfolio Services, Department of Transport and Planning

Kirsten Lacey, Chief Risk Officer, and Director of Risk Compliance and Resilience, Department of Transport and Planning

 

Embedding a positive risk culture through training and support

  • Establishing the benefits of a mature culture for risk mitigation
  • Designing awareness campaigns around risk management with high impact
  • Measuring the maturity of organisational culture regarding key risks
  • Collaborating with other business functions to ensure effective and resilient culture change

Claire Sullivan, Director Risk, Assurance, and Governance, Fire Rescue Victoria

 

Providing effective dialogue and education for employees outside of your risk team

  • Gathering key data on key risks to target in risk training and development
  • Explaining risk concepts to non-experts where necessary
  • Collaborating with other business functions to produce best-practice training
  • Developing your risk learning and development around sustainable and continuous improvement

Andres Ramirez, Manager Risk, Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing

 

Utilising modern technology to effectively manage complex risks

  • Introducing new technologies with an understanding both of their benefits and blind spots
  • Managing risks effectively by leveraging innovative technology
  • Utilising technology and data from other business functions to mitigate risks
  • Working in partnership with your IT partners effectively
  • Achieving senior leadership buy in for technological investment in risk management

Mike van de Graaf, Executive Director Risk, Treasury Corporation of Victoria

 

Maintaining accurate, current, and accessible data in risk management

  • Identifying key indicators of current risks and organisational resilience
  • Utilising existing and new technology for mature risk data monitoring
  • Interpreting changes in risk data effectively within a tolerable margin of error
  • Negotiating privacy concerns when utilising ongoing data in risk management
  • Monitoring data for indicative changes around emergent risks

Simon Joyce, Assistant Secretary Data Governance and Services, Department of Defence

 

Employing an informed mitigation strategy around Artificial Intelligence risks

  • Understanding the key risks and opportunities around AI today
  • Producing a proactive AI risk management strategy
  • Navigating the inherent risks of utilising AI technology in public sector operations
  • Organising your risk management strategy to counter future AI risks

Kristen Moore, Team Leader Human-Centred AI and Biosecurity, CSIRO’s Data61

 

Preparing for the key risks posed by intensifying climate change

  • Establishing the impact of climate breakdown for every organisation
  • Mitigating the risk of climate impacts with prior preparation
  • Meeting climate-related compliance objectives effectively
  • Adjusting your existing risk ratings to account for climate-driven intensification

Dr Karl Braganza, National Manager Climate Services, Bureau of Meteorology

 

Upgrading your cybersecurity response in a high-risk environment

  • Building an evidence-led cyber risk framework based on emergent and ongoing threats
  • Collaborating effectively with your organisational cybersecurity specialists
  • Providing practical guidance to stakeholders around cybersecurity risks
  • Leveraging guidance and support from other organisations and regulators

 

Mitigating the risk of fraud and corruption in the public sector

  • Integrating fraud risks into your broader risk management approach
  • Achieving exceptional compliance outcomes around fraud and corruption risks
  • Ensuring key emergent and ongoing fraud risks are mitigated effectively
  • Promoting fraud awareness within standard organisational practice

 

Developing an effective approach to emergent risk detection and management

  • Preparing for the key risks facing public sector professionals in the coming future
  • Utilising contemporary horizon scanning and mitigation strategies to manage incoming risks
  • Training your risk management approach to detect emerging risks early
  • Communicating around potential risks when engaging with senior leaders and stakeholders

 

Navigating privacy concerns in risk management

  • Ensuring your risk management approach is compliant with current privacy regulation
  • Engaging with your workforce with privacy concerns as a priority
  • Adapting key techniques to maintain anonymity of risk data and communications
  • Keeping confidential data secure and on record for audit and compliance purposes

 

Meeting risk reporting and compliance standards effectively

  • Identifying your key responsibilities for internal and external reporting
  • Ensuring enthusiastic and substantive compliance from your organisational stakeholders
  • Engaging with your organisational risk, assurance, and compliance processes regularly
  • Onboarding new leaders and team members around compliance procedure effectively