Become a future leader

ANZSOG's Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) degree produces graduates who are confident, critical thinkers with the skills required to manage complex challenges and deliver value to the communities they serve. Build the leadership capabilities you need to contribute at the highest levels in the contemporary public service.

Apply now to advance your career

Graduate Paulleen Markwort and her manager Argiri Alisandratos discuss the benefits of a Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA):

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Who is it for?

The EMPA degree is designed to meet the needs of future public sector leaders operating at the state, territory or national level in the Australian or New Zealand public service. The degree best serves those already exhibiting high potential as leaders. Participants should already have shown their ability to perform consistently at above-average levels, and to have effective management capability. Those who exhibit a collaborative mindset and who hold a strong commitment to a career in or around the public sector thrive in this degree.

Download the EMPA brochure (PDF, 1.6MB)

Details 

The EMPA is a two year part-time postgraduate degree. Participants formally meet up to five times per year in a cross-jurisdictional classroom setting, including once at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Participants also have contact time for their university electives, which is dictated by their chosen university. Between formal gatherings, participants also have some coursework to complete. 

The EMPA degree features core subjects delivered by ANZSOG and elective subjects delivered by our partner universities, which includes: 

• ANU
• Charles Darwin University
• Flinders University
• Griffith University
• Monash University
• University of Canberra

• University of Melbourne
• University of New South Wales
• University of Sydney
• Curtin University
• Victoria University of Wellington

Core subjects include:

• Delivering Public Value
• Governing in a Market Economy
• Designing Public Policies and Programs
• Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
• Managing Public Sector Organisations
• Governing by the Rules
• Public Financial Management
• Leading Public Sector Change
• Work-Based Project

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Outcomes

Among other things, on completing this degree you will:

• appreciate the trends shaping the public sector and what they mean for contemporary leaders
• understand the theory and practice of strategic thinking and value creation in the public sector
• appreciate the importance of ethics, values and the role of technology in relation to value creation
• appreciate what actions you can take to promote excellence in organisational processes and attention to detail in the delivery of client services
• apply an economic toolkit to public service delivery and pricing decisions
• analyse problems and seek solutions in a setting governed by public law and other rules of public administration
• understand the role of evidence and its usefulness for guiding complex decision making
• bring a future-oriented, investment perspective to all policy and program design work
• recognise the major concepts that underpin contemporary public sector budget and financial management processes
• undertake primary research in accordance with ethical principles
• build your strategic capability, particularly in diagnosing, instigating or adapting to change in the public sector

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Faculty

Our faculty includes leading national and international academics who are experts in the public sector. We also draw on the expertise of practitioners from the not-for-profit and private sectors, because we know today’s managers must be able to work across sectors. Current faculty include:

• Dr Jo Cribb, Managing Public Sector Organisations
• Professor Arie Frieberg, Monash University, Governing By the Rules
• Professor Ross Guest, Griffith University, Government in a Market Economy
• Professor Michael Macaulay, Victoria University of Wellington, Managing Public Sector Organisations
• Professor Michael Mintrom, Monash University and ANZSOG, Designing Public Policies and Programs
• Professor Janine O’Flynn, University of Melbourne and ANZSOG, Delivering Public Value
• Dr Zina O’Leary, Work-Based Project
• Professor Paul ‘t Hart, Utrecht University, Leading Public Sector Change

 

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Information for managers and sponsoring agencies

ANZSOG creates and delivers industry-leading educational programs tailored to meet the needs of public sector leaders, who face an array of challenges distinct from those found in private enterprise.

Our programs are designed by government, for government, and led by renowned academics and top practitioners from the government and non-government sectors.

Who should I nominate?

Nominate a person with management experience and at least five years of relevant work experience. Participants should be recognised as high potential future leaders exhibiting a strong commitment to public service. Applicants should meet the master’s degree entry requirements of partner universities, which typically requires previous completion of an undergraduate degree. We encourage you to nominate Māori and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Investment

The sponsoring government or agency covers program costs, including tuition fee, program materials, travel, accommodation and most meals.

Alumni community

The ANZSOG experience reaches well beyond the classroom. The national and international networks to which participants gain access to while completing the EMPA program will be invaluable throughout their career.The ANZSOG experience reaches well beyond the classroom. The national and international networks to which participants gain access to while completing the EMPA program will be invaluable throughout their career.

Our Alumni Program helps participants to maintain and build on their peer-to-peer relationships, creating a broad community of public sector managers from around New Zealand, Australia and internationally. This provides an opportunity for ongoing learning and support from peers, greater exposure to different perspectives, and an appreciation of work done, and solutions found, elsewhere.