Leading public service thinker to head Crawford School

Professor Janine O’Flynn has been appointed as the new Director of the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, returning to ANU to take up the role in January 2023.

Professor O’Flynn joined Crawford School as a research fellow in 2007 and was promoted to professor in 2012.

Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific Professor Helen Sullivan said she was delighted to welcome her former colleague back to the School.

“Professor O’Flynn is an award-winning scholar and teacher and an internationally recognised expert in public management, known particularly for her influential research on public sector reform,” Professor Sullivan said.

“A passionate educator, Janine has led education innovation throughout her career, always striving to combine academic rigour with practical application, with the aim of improving the competence and confidence of those working in and with the public sector.

“Janine’s wealth of experience and depth of expertise in public management will add to Crawford’s outstanding reputation in providing expert and independent advice to governments and public service bodies in Australia and the region.”

Professor O’Flynn is a keen observer of international practice in public management, and she is highly sought after as an expert advisor.

She has advised public service institutions in Australia, Chile, Bhutan, New Zealand, USA, Vietnam, Canada, China and Singapore.

In 2019, she co-authored a major research paper to inform the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service (The Thodey Review).

She has also researched diverse topics such as the creation and evolution of public service markets, collaboration and joined-up government, to designing effective performance management systems.

She is the winner of multiple prestigious academic awards, most notably the best book award at the Academy of Management for the book Rethinking Public Service Delivery: Managing with External Providers (with John Alford).

In 2011, she received a citation for outstanding contribution to student learning at the Australian Awards for University Teaching.

Professor O’Flynn is currently based at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) on secondment from the Melbourne School of Government at the University of Melbourne.

She said it was an enormous privilege to return to ANU to lead the Crawford School of Public Policy.

“Crawford is an extraordinary school, with a community of committed people, all of whom make it the special place that it is.

“I am looking forward to working with all of them on an ambitious agenda of addressing the complex challenges that face us, and taking our place amongst the best policy schools in the world.”