What inspired you to become a public servant:
The opportunities in the public health system attracted me to make a decision to commence my nursing training in the public sector 28 years ago.

The aim of commencing a career in nursing was to contribute to the care and support of others. Applying this in the public sector sat with well with my values and principles.

What pathway have you taken to achieve your current role; what motivates you to continue as a public servant.
I commenced as a student nurse at the RAH 28 years ago and very early on decided that I was going to become a Director of Nursing. The clinical pathway in the early part of my career was inspired by a woman who epitomised that knowledge and intelligence earns the respect of other health professionals. Her knowledge was diverse, evidence based and she always focused on achieving better patient outcomes.

I worked to gain my Oncology Nursing Certificate at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London and then spent 8 years in charge of the Medical Oncology Unit at RAH. In that time I established mentors, completed my Bachelor degree, became involved in professional associations, researched, presented nationally and internationally, won awards for achievements and developed a strong interest in quality improvement.

I then took the next step toward my career goal of becoming a Director of Nursing and moved into leadership rather than clinical roles. During that time I completed my Masters Degree, became involved in teaching, and was elected to the Nurses Board of South Australia.

I achieved my career goal in 2001 when I was appointed to my first Director of Nursing role. 8 years on I have just completed 5 years at Flinders Medical Centre as Director of Nursing and Midwifery and about to commence as the Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Southern Adelaide Health Service leading clinical service planning, workforce reform, strategy, professional leadership, education, systems support that relates to nurses and midwives as well as continually improve patient care.

The public sector has provided me with all the opportunities that I have needed to achieve my career goals and more. The public sector has supported me well personally as I have had many different jobs in different places working with different people all the time building on my entitlements and security.

Have you faced challenges specific to being a woman working in the public sector.
I have worked in a typically female dominated profession within the health system, which has its own interesting challenges. Most people have a stereotypical view of what a nurse is and does, that is not usually managing policy and a multimillion dollar budgets, risk, reform and change. The job that I have pursued does not fit this stereotype and I still get asked if I do shift work. Nurses have a huge range of transferable skills and the goal that I set for myself was not a common one. There were times where I was critiqued because I had ambition and drive. The public health sector is dominated by a medical model of care so being a woman and a nurse and often younger than my peers or direct report has at times been challenging. An awareness of how to respond and act in these circumstances has been a purposeful and important skill to develop.

As a leader in the Public Sector, how do you manage work and life outside work.
For me feeling in control is the most important aspect of achieving balance in my life. I therefore do whatever is needed to gain and maintain that control at home, even if sometimes that means working on Sunday nights, getting a cleaner and having the shirts ironed. I have learnt to adjust my standards as necessary without feeling they are being compromised. As I really value time for myself and important relationships I have set up some routines and pre booked dates through out the year to catch up with certain people. At least one a month I reflect on my to do list and also review where and how I have been spending my time and if it is not in the right balance change it next month, especially with family and friends. I also know the few small special things that make me feel good and pursue them every weekend without fail.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership positions in the public sector.
Have ambition and be proud of it. Have a career goal and work towards it. Be prepared and take opportunities wherever you can to move outside your comfort zone. Establish key mentors to help and support you to work towards your goal and network whenever you can.

Develop professionally & personally all your life. Be confident and courageous to take risks. Always be accountable for your actions and decisions. Set 3-5 year plans and look at changing your job every 6-8 years. Always have an exit strategy to provide a backdrop to take risks and know the worst-case scenario.

Leadership is about influencing people to change. Work with others and support their development and they will lift you up to your next level. Have fun and laugh at yourself and with others. You can do anything with ambition, drive & focus. You can and will make a difference so make it count & most importantly be the best you can ever be.

What inspired you to become a public servant:
The trigger really was necessity. As a suddenly single parent of a 5 and 7 year old I had to find a job, and the best fit was 20 hours a week as a school assistant. I did everything from being the First Aid officer for the school to doing the school accounts in those days of simple cash accounting. Although I didn’t realise it, this latter task was really the seeds of my eventual profession. The Principal encouraged me to pursue studies and a career so I went to TAFE and did a Business Certificate and Diploma in Accounting not realising what I really should have done was a degree in accounting.

When the children went to secondary school and I wanted to work full time I found it difficult to move into the Education Department so I took a job as Budget Officer at the South Australian College of Advanced Education and studied part time for the Degree in Accounting. However I didn’t really think of myself as a public servant until I moved to the SA Health Commission as a Budget Analyst. For the first time I had a defined role and task, responsibility for results, sitting at my desk without the constant interruptions from students and staff, and a very public sector environment.

What pathway have you taken to achieve your current role; what motivates you to continue as a public servant.
One of my keys to success is taking opportunities that come up and making the most of them. There was a very supportive environment at the time I was at the Health Commission and opportunities occurred. I also realise I enjoyed working with people rather than as an individual as I moved into positions managing staff.

One of the turning points came when I was seconded to the Private Development Unit in the Health Commission because I ‘was good with figures and cost benefit analyses’. The Unit was formed to investigate the involvement of the private sector in the delivery of health and ancillary services including Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). My work involved dealing with a wide range of people and professions both in the public and private sector. These ranged from bankers, lawyers and architects to builders and the spectrum of health professionals. I started as a consultant and ended as the Director of the Unit. It was a pivotal appointment because it set me off on a new path in competitive tendering and contracting and it was one of the best jobs because of the breadth of contact and experience. The job was certainly full on, very exciting and challenging. Just at the time when policy changed, the Department for Human Services was created and the Unit was absorbed back into a larger Division, a similar job came up in the Passenger Transport Board (now Public Transport Division DTEI) as Director Contracts with responsibility for the huge task of tendering Adelaide’s bus services.

Have you faced challenges specific to being a woman working in the public sector.
I have never been conscious of any particular problems. I have always enjoyed working with males even though I often found myself the only female at meetings in the rather ‘blokey’ environments in which I have worked. I have received encouragement and support from both male and female colleagues and managers. Unfortunately overbearing, dominating or bullying behaviour is the same whether from male or female colleagues or managers and while I have found this to be rare I have learned to deal with it.

In my own managerial roles I have tried to repay the wonderful support I have received over the years by encouraging all staff and creating opportunities for development. This is one of the great things about the public sector, its culture of staff development with time off for study and payment of fees for appropriate courses. I think this is not made a big enough ‘selling point’ in staff recruitment. The other areas that should be promoted more by the public sector are the fantastic family friendly work places and practices.

As a leader in the Public Sector, how do you manage work and life outside work.
The challenges and difficulties of working while being a parent fall more often to women but not exclusively. My husband, yes I did find time to get married again, was very supportive and took on the role of managing the household even doing all the cooking. I also have made a point of contracting out the cleaning as he can’t do it and I won’t do it – it has saved lots of arguments over the years.

Pressure of work at senior level can be intense, more so at the moment as I am covering two roles while Executive Director Heather Webster is on leave. There are increasing expectations these days with mobile e-mail and phones for executives to be constantly on duty 24 hours 7 days, with no set working hours and the simple demand to get the job done as top priority. This can become unsustainable if not managed rationally. My strategy is to avoid where possible taking work home, especially on weekends. I can achieve this by working long days at the office starting early when there are fewer interruptions and staying late to avoid carrying tasks over to the next day. This makes sure I have time at home, guaranteed time, where I can relax and enjoy family life and entertainment.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership positions in the public sector.
Look for opportunities to expand your experience and when they occur, grab them even if they stretch your abilities uncomfortably. My old high school motto was ‘Always Aspire’ so I have always worked on the ABC principle.

A.is for Aim High, B. is for Be Happy and C. is for Courage or Confidence.

You need courage to take the risk and do something. Only by doing something can you achieve success and only success can breed real confidence.

So chase opportunity, seek training and advice, maintain enthusiasm and excitement, be generous in time and effort and -ASK FOR HELP.

What are your plans for the future.
It is a most exciting time to be in transport, especially public transport, with a new burst of Government investment and an increased awareness of the essential nature of public transport in a sustainable and liveable city. The public is also giving public transport increased status as economic conditions highlight its advantages. I see the challenges in this field and the opportunity to make an impact on the way this lovely city works will give me plenty of job satisfaction over the next few years. But my great challenge will be to achieve a better work –life balance. I recently went to work for a year in New Zealand to a terrific job, a fantastic lifestyle and a beautiful country. Although I loved it - it wasn’t home. I realised how good Adelaide really is with its lifestyle, great food and wine, accessible recreation and entertainment and wonderful cultural institutions and events.

I am lucky to have a house on the coast with breathtaking views which make life feel like a continuous holiday. I don’t just live to work or work to live but somewhere in the middle where work gives me stimulus and achievement but leaves time to delight in an Adelaide life.

A day in the life of Elaine Bensted

A day in the life of EB never has quite enough hours!

My day starts with a 30-minute walk/run of my German Shepherd. Owning a big dog is a great motivator to ensure I get a good dose of daily exercise. Really enjoyable at this time of the year, but somewhat more challenging on those cold, dark, wet winter mornings! It does get me out of the house and moving and is a good way to clear the head before the day starts. Then it is home, quick shower, breakfast, scan the newspaper and ready for work. I generally drive into work with my husband (who very conveniently at the moment works in the same building at City Central) and my daughter who is a first year Uni student.

I am the Deputy Chief Executive, Employment and Training Services, DFEEST. This is a great role with responsibility for the management of the wide range of training and employment services that our Department delivers. This includes TAFE SA, Employment Programs, Traineeships and Apprenticeships and Marketing and International. We have staff based all over the State in over 50 locations. One regret is that I don’t get out of the city office as often as I would like to see our staff who deliver such valuable services across the State. I do get out occasionally as well as attending many student graduations, and it is at these functions that the value of the work our Department is really evident.

My day at work usually kicks off between 8 and 8.30 and the bulk of my time is spent in a variety of meetings. An average day is usually about 7 or 8 meetings, and the really hectic ones have many more than that! One of the many challenges of an Executive role is the variety of topics that is dealt with in the course of a day. It means you can move from discussing budget issues, to an Executive Performance Management discussion, to a teleconference with all States and the Commonwealth Government on policy issues, to a meeting with WorkCover in preparation for an audit – all in the space of a few hours! This certainly keeps the brain active and is one of the things that appeals to me about the work. The role also involves some travel – generally to Melbourne or Canberra for work with the Commonwealth Government or to regional South Australia.

The downside of a meeting schedule like that is the challenge to keep up with emails (which average about 130 every day) and all of the reading and signing of correspondence and briefings. I personally try and squeeze in some email work in the valuable minutes between meetings – this is generally not enough time to get into detailed reading but can clear quite a few of the emails in the course of the day. I value dinner at home with the family and so try hard to leave the office by 6.30 every day. This allows me to get home for a nice meal prepared by someone else, as the family is too hungry to wait for me! After dinner I tend to do a few hours of work – this allows me to finish any emails, read and sign briefings and read the material needed for the next day. Trying to reduce this work at home is a challenge – and one that I am still working on!

The easiest way to give a sense of the day in the life of EB, is to share a typical diary day:

6.30	My daily dog run then ready for the day
8.30 – 9.30	A meeting with some DFEEST Directors to determine our approach to the management of a new Commonwealth Government initiative.
9.30 – 10.00	A meeting to discuss our progress against the Strategic Plan target for International Students – and how we can increase these numbers while maintaining the quality of education.
10.00 – 10.30	A meeting with a leading industry manager regarding new models for training trade apprentices to meet the skills challenges ahead.
10.30 – 12.00	Chairing the Strategic Programs and Investment Steering Committee. This is a whole of Government Committee that supports the ICT Board by overseeing strategic ICT programs.
12.00 – 12.30	A half-hour break from meetings. Will be used to review urgent emails and grab a quick bite.
12.30 – 1.30	An internal meeting reviewing progress of a transition to a new structure for our marketing functions.
1.30 – 2.00	Regular weekly catch up with the CE and key DFEEST staff to look at the week ahead, any communications issues that need addressing, preparation for weekly meeting with our Minister.
2.00 – 3.00	Meeting with key DFEEST Executives to review the Skills Strategy Implementation progress. The Skills Strategy is a major change initiative that impacts on all areas of DFEEST. Different elements are being project managed and this monthly meeting is to track implementation status and ensure the different elements are drawn together.
3.00 – 4.00	A meeting with Business SA and key DFEEST, TAFE SA and DECS staff to discuss how Vocational Education and Training should be effectively used as part of the new SACE.
4.00 – 5.00	Unless anything arises during the day which will eat into this time, this will be used to review and respond to emails as well as follow up action items from the meetings of the day.
5.00 – 6.00	IPAA Council meeting. I am a member of the SA Division of IPAA and this is our regular Council meeting.
6.00 – 7.30	Down to Noarlunga for the Community Cabinet public forum. This is an opportunity for members of the public to meet with Cabinet Ministers and senior public servants.

Then it is home for dinner, signing and reading.
All of my material is packaged ready for me – it is important to recognize that this busy Executive only appears organised because of a really strong support team!

In summary – a busy role, but one that is enormously enjoyable and rewarding.

What inspired you to become a public servant:
The inspiration was not so much about becoming a public servant but about the opportunity to contribute to scientific advancement across a broad range of primary industries both at the State and National level, which is really only possible from within the public sector.

The word ‘servant’ is, however, an important one as I see myself here to serve; to serve the scientists within SARDI, ensuring that they have stable career pathways and that SARDI is a robust and forward-focussed research institute.

What pathway have you taken to achieve your current role; what motivates you to continue as a public servant.
I am primarily a scientist first and foremost, and was an active researcher for 15 years before holding various leadership roles in a number of science disciplines. My move to directing research and development was initiated by a desire to create an environment where scientists can actually do great science.

I was frustrated working under managers that I thought were doing things wrong, so I decided that I should have a go and do it the way I thought it should be done.

Have you faced challenges specific to being a woman working in the public sector.
Well, having a hide like a hippopotamus helps, so does a strong belief that I am here to do a job and to do it well. I do not take the slights and personal comments that are occasionally made by those colleagues who have yet to embrace a professional approach to heart, and I know that sometimes doing the right thing as opposed to the easy thing is not a smooth pathway.

But generally "little woman issues" have not plagued my career. The issues that I have come across, which include the over-bearing bore, the dictator and the bully, have generally impacted on me similarly to how they impact on my male colleagues, so I have never viewed them as issues specifically pertaining to woman.

As a leader in the Public Sector, how do you manage work and life outside work.
There are days when it can be difficult to have a ‘life’ as the work can be all consuming, but generally it’s a matter of switching off and leaving the work stuff behind at the office so that I can be effective as a mother and friend. I try to be strict on times for the earliest and latest appointments of the day, so that I can manage the before and after school schedule without myself or my girls getting too stressed each day.

I think this is something that comes more easily to those of us who are good time managers. I was awarded the National EEO 'Walk the Talk' award in NZ in 1999 for work-life balance, which was a buzz but also a testament to the fact that work-life balance is about accepting that sometimes all the wheels fall off and it is not all your fault. Bottom line - my kids come first, and everything else gets to line up behind them.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership positions in the public sector.
If its possible find yourself a mentor to work alongside or learn from; then you have the benefit of seeing things from a leadership perspective. Be prepared to grab opportunities if they present themselves or be prepared to make them happen.

Work hard - very, very hard. If you are good at your job and are prepared to go the extra mile then opportunities for advancement are there. Always focus on getting the job done not listening to the office politics.

What are your plans for the future.
The Future - well I still have a job to do at SARDI - we have just been through a restructure and the next couple of years will see our core activities and directions delivering solutions to our primary industry partners in SA. That will take about the next four to five years of my time. After that who knows perhaps a CE role. Anyway I look forward to finding out what the future holds.

What inspired you to become a public servant:
The iconic reputation of the then Housing Trust. It had a real sense of having made a real difference over time (70 years in fact), a very strong culture of customer service (verified independently by national surveys) and a real camaraderie among its staff, who shared a passion for the business.

What pathway have you taken to achieve your current role; what motivates you to continue as a public servant.
I started here in Adelaide in Education (secondary teaching and then communications at TAFE). While I had time off for my first children, I became a local government councillor and then became a part time Commissioner on the Local Government Advisory Commission. I really found my voice in local government and picked up skills in planning and community development/engagement.

When our family moved to Western Australia I worked in the Department of Local Government and then Homeswest. In the latter I had roles in policy and land development and then did my first stint as a manager, acting as a local regional manager with responsibility for a third of the metropolitan area.

On returning to Adelaide I sought similar work at the Housing Trust and had a wonderful breadth of roles in strategic planning, business management, policy and then as an executive, managing half the regional offices across the state. After several years I really enjoyed a move across to lead Maintenance and Technical Services; as a generalist. I helped better link this group of specialists to the rest of the organisation, re-organised contracting arrangements and raised the bar on issues like asset management planning, an environmental framework and engaging the construction sector in where the business was going. From there I acted for over a year as General Manager, Housing Trust.

I was headhunted to apply for the role of Chief Executive of Housing New Zealand and won a 3 year contract there. It was a wonderful to get experience as a Chief Executive and to go to a country where no one knew me and work in a very strong and different indigenous culture. HNZC delivered social objectives in a commercial manner; managing $11b of assets major urban renewals, a range of home loan products and an emerging community housing sector.

When I returned to SA in 2006, I became an Executive Director of Housing SA and used the breadth of my New Zealand experience to reposition services from essentially public housing to a housing continuum from homelessness to home ownership.

The motivation for applying for and winning the role of Chief Executive at the Environment Protection Authority was a fresh challenge, a new field and a chance as a Chief Executive, along with the Board to help reposition an organisation to meet emerging agendas. It’s been particularity motivating to work in the field of both housing and environment at times when there is such a strong public interest in them, and to know the public service can really show leadership and make a difference.

Have you faced challenges specific to being a woman working in the public sector.
Executive Public sector roles are very busy and demanding, particularly combined with a family and extended family commitments. The public service is generally good on a family friendly approach to work, allowing flexibility with hours and appointments.

I’ve found it essential to be really well organised. It has helped having a great husband who understands the public service and together we’ve brought up our three children to contribute to running our house.

Leadership roles can be quite lonely and it’s been important to have other leaders and mentors who are generous and supportive, and encourage you to believe in your own judgment. Jim Birch and Greg Black were great such mentors for me, as were my two Board chairs at HNZC. Exceptional professional colleagues like Beth Dunning, the former Executive Director of Families, who listen, challenge and support you, make a big difference too.

The support staff in my immediate office have always been very important to me, helping keep me in good spirits, especially when the pressure is on. They ensure the work we produce is of a very high professional standard, and that our area is approachable and connected to the rest of the organisation.

Sometimes leaders in the public sector can be overly focused on their own areas, and not seem to put themselves out to relate to others.

The development and construction industries still tend to be male dominated areas and some still exhibit quite exclusive behaviours to senior women.

As a leader in the Public Sector, how do you manage work and life outside work.
I never work on Saturdays. I find spend time with people who make me laugh and I dig passionately in my garden.

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership positions in the public sector.
Spend time every week listening and talking with teams of staff in your organisation. Their knowledge and commitment can be really invigorating.

Make time to talk with trusted colleagues to whom you relate well, to help you reflect on what you’re doing and feelings about your work and your leadership.

Trust your own judgment.

Be brave and take up the opportunities that present themselves, especially the chance to develop skills and knowledge in new areas.

Mentor others: it helps you as well to get a perspective on your own experiences and values.

Have the courage to use your own voice and to speak up when you think something is not right.

What are your plans for the future.
Learning a great deal at the EPA about environmental issues: including regulating meatworks, greywater from river boats on the Murray and recovering resources in the area of waste. Working out how we’ll manage noise and air quality as our housing density increases and assisting all varieties of industries incorporate sustainability into their practices.