2020 Australian Leadership Index Annual Report

Stay informed about leadership in Australia

Subscribe to access downloadable reports and receive email notifications when new articles are published by the research team.

In 2020, COVID-19 created a strong focus on leadership, placing increasing pressure on leaders to make decisions for the public interest, particularly at federal and state government level.

→ Subscribe or log in to view and download this report.

Media Enquiries

To get in touch with the research team for comments, interviews, or to discuss the research, please click the button below.

About the Australian Leadership Index

The Australian Leadership Index is a national leadership survey that provides a comprehensive picture of leadership for the greater good in Australia. Made possible by the generous support of the Graham Foundation, the Australian Leadership Index is nationally significant for a number of reasons.

It is the largest ever study of leadership for the greater good. Each quarter, the ALI surveys 1,000 people across Australia about their beliefs about leadership for the greater good by Australian organisations and institutions. The ALI also reveals how institutions in different sectors vary in terms of leadership for the greater good, as well as the drivers of these perceptions, revealing new insights into what institutional leaders can do to show leadership for the greater good. Finally, by making all ALI data freely available via the ALI data portal, the Australian Leadership Index provides the public, journalists and leaders with a powerful new tool to help bring forth the leadership Australia needs for the future Australians want.

Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn for regular updates, or subscribe to access downloadable reports and receive email notifications when new articles are published by the research team.

Recent articles

Explainer: the common good and why it matters more than ever

November 25, 2021

Although the term ‘civilisation’ has less currency today than it once did (Armstrong, 2009), most people see themselves as living in a civilisation (Saul, 2009). As observed by the political philosopher John Ralston Saul, this understanding tends to be centred on a sense of shared destiny: on shared interests, collective purpose, and a common future. Seemingly abstract, the idea of shared destiny is actually quite familiar. Colloquially, we know this as the common good or its synonyms: the public or greater good.

Leadership written in chalk on a blackboard

Reflections on the common good and the future of leadership for the common good

November 4, 2021

Leadership for the common good requires an individual and collective ability and willingness to overcome our Manichaean tendencies. It calls on us to foster the conditions that make it possible to imagine how apparent contradictions can be reconciled. And it calls on us to cultivate the conditions in which we can develop a sense of shared reality, collective purpose, and shared destiny.

The paradox of virtue signalling

September 29, 2021

While a brand can align itself with and support social causes, ultimately, its existence relies on generating revenue and profit. As such, positioning a brand as virtuous is a challenging and, at times, paradoxical task for marketing practitioners.