INVITATION TO AN INFORMAL LUNCH ON CROWD-SOURCING AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE

We are delighted to invite you to join us at an informal lunch hosted by Shaw and Partners with support from the Blackwood Foundation to learn about “My Big Idea”.

GUEST PRESENTER Ralph Ashton Co-Founder and CEO Australian Futures Project

“We’re in the middle of a huge economic expansion, we’ve weathered the global f inancial cr is is , we’re very high on the Human Development Index. We’ve got al l th is opportunity ahead of us in terms of the Asian century. And yet , as a society , we just keep dropping the bal l on a whole lot of fundamental decis ions.”

10 News Monday12August2013TheAustralianFinancialReview | www.afr.com

ClaireStewart

Akrasia – acting against one’s bet-ter judgmentthroughalackofwillor conflictingmotives – is threat-ening how andwhy decisions arebeing made about Australia’sfuture, says former lawyer andbankerRalphAshton.Meaningful progress on policy

has stagnated as a result, frustrat-ingmany leaders in the business,governmentandsocialsectors.It’s a problem the academic

hopes to change throughhisAus-tralian Futures Project, by intro-ducing leading individuals andinstitutionstonewsystemstohelpthemmakebetterdecisions.Butdon’tcall itathinktank.Bringing together participants

fromtheBusinessCouncil ofAus-tralia,SocialLeadershipAustralia,the Benevolent Society and theFoundation for Young Austral-ians, amongothers, it is billedasanon-partisan organisation to helpimprove thecapacity fordecision-making, rather than to writereports on policies and presentsolutionstolivepolitical issues.MrAshton,who isdirectorand

founder, and his strategy adviser,Fiona McKenzie, are optimisticthat by encouraging a betterdecision-makingprocess, “thesys-tem” (government, business,media, experts and citizens) canbe incrementally tweaked toimproveAustralia’spotentialoverthenexttwodecades.Ashtonhasmetwithmorethan

300 people from various indus-tries and academia to determinewhether there really is a problemwith policy and whether it is anydifferentto20yearsago.He found that frustration over

stagnatingprogress inpolicymak-ing was common to all sectors.“The answer was, yes, there is aproblem,”hesays.“Just about everyone said it is

different toa fewdecadesago.Butthere’s quite a long list of what’scausing the problem and whywe’restuckinsemi-gridlock.”

Partof thedifferencenowis theacceleration of IT capabilities,including social media and theinternet, which has changed thewaypeopledigestinformationandmakechoices.Itmeans therewasmore room

for “idiosyncratic political beliefs”which in turnmeans politics andpolicy is lesscogent than itused tobe,Ashtonsays.Sotheiraimistofacilitate“deep

dialogue that’s not superficial andnot media focused,” with peopleopting in to the discussion, ratherthan feeling compelled to partici-pate. The firstmeeting of 25 indi-viduals “with the levers, resourcesand insights tomakeadifference”isplannedforOctober.

The expectation is people willarrive with a handful of ideasabouthowtoimprovethesystem.“I’m an optimist. But also a

realist. It’s not going to revolu-tionise things, it’snotgoing tobeadramatic shift. It’s patientlyrebuilding, for example, trustbetween business and govern-ment,”Ashtonsays.“I think if youhavepeople from

differentbackgroundswithdiffer-ent experiences, and you create asafe environment for deep dia-logue, you then ask for a commit-ment not just to talk and haveideas,butthattheyhavetocommitto exploring how those ideas gettakenintoreality.”Vested interests, personal bias

and structural issues such as thethree-year electoral term, the 24-hour news cycle and a federatedgovernment, can’t be changed.Rather, they form the context inwhich adaptation can occur inspiteofthat.Over the next six months,

Ashton wants to bring differentgroups together and generateabout 20 ideas. “Hopefully threeideas will resonate enough thatpeople really want to do them.Thenwewillsupportthosegroupsto develop a prototype to imple-ment the change and evaluate itoverthenext18months,”hesaid.“I’mhappytoclosethingsdown

if it doesn’twork.But in twoyears’timemyhope is thatat leastoneofthoseprototypeshasbeensuccess-ful and that people have picked it

upandrolleditoutmorebroadly.”Before launching, Ashton

looked globally for similar pro-grams. There were no identicalprograms but he found othercountrieswerealso implementingideas to change their policy-makingplatform.America has established a gov-

ernment accountability office andFinland has established a parlia-mentarycommittee for the future.It also introduced a national fail-ureday,asameansofencouraginginnovationandexperimentation.IrelandnowhasfuturesIreland

2025, and Hungary created anombudsman for future gener-ations,giventhe taskofevaluatingpolicy to guarantee long-termbenefits.

InnovationPuttinggreatminds towork

AustraliaFuturesProjectgetsideas

Not a think tank, Ralph Ashton’s brains trust. PHOTO: LOUISE KENNERLEY

I’mhappy to closethings down if itdoesn’twork. Butmyhope is that atleast oneof thoseprototypes hasbeen successful.

Manufacturing Productivity

Networks GrantsRound Three –

Open for Applications

Grants are now available to assist eligible business networks improve the productivity and competitiveness of Victorian manufacturing businesses.

An initiative under the Victorian Government’s Manufacturing Strategy, the Manufacturing Productivity Networks program has two grant streams:

> Up to $50,000 to support network information and planning activities.

> Up to $600,000 to support significant network projects.

All grants are awarded on a competitive basis and must be matched by a minimum financial contribution of $1 for every $1 granted.

Applications close at 5.00pm, 13 September 2013

More details available from business.vic.gov.au/mpn or contact 13 22 15

ZO39

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DATEThursday 17 March

TIME12.30-2.00pm

VENUEShaw and Partners Lv 15, 60 Castlereagh St Sydney

RSVPVictoria Dimond victoria@australianfutures.org +61 437 760 173

Austral ians want a di f ferent k ind of society. They want a say in their community , but feel incapable of contr ibut ing to the future they want.

My Big Idea is a bold new ini t iat ive to spark a deeper nat ional conversat ion about Austral ia ’s future, encourage and faci l i tate act ion towards that future, and inst i l l a sense of possibi l i ty among Austral ians. My Big Idea wil l launch in July , after a pi lot in Geelong in the month of Apri l .

Please join us to be at the forefront of this imperative conversation.

All ier Capital

Anita and Luca Belgiorno-Nett is Family Foundat ion

Gourlay Charitable Trust

Rebecca Smith and Stuart Bl ieschke

Wheen Family Foundat ion

Event Supporters

My Big Idea Supporters