About SLA

Better Leadership for a Better World

Social Leadership Australia (SLA) is a specialist leadership centre at The Benevolent Society, Australia's first charity, working at the cutting edge of social issues since 1813.

Part of The Benevolent Society's broader purpose of creating caring and inclusive communities and a just society, Social Leadership Australia's purpose is to shift Australian leadership thinking and practice to help make the world a better place. 

Since our establishment in 1999, Social Leadership Australia has grown from a single year-long program for 30 leaders from across the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors—our flagship Sydney Leadership program— into a thriving leadership centre delivering a diverse suite of programs for individuals, organisations and the broader community.

Each year, more than 500 people participate in one of more than 20 open, customised and issues-based programs delivered across four states and territories.

Formal evaluations and feedback from our program participants consistently point to an unrivalled learning experience with a depth that surpasses theoretical knowledge.

From our Headland project for Indigenous leaders and year-long Queensland Leadership program to our range of programs for the National Australia Bank and our work with senior police and executives at the Australian Institute of Police Management—just to name a few—SLA has built a reputation for its innovative and impactful work across all sectors of the community, fostering new ideas, insights and initiatives with a 'big picture' view of the world, and helping to deliver real progress on some of the toughest challenges we face as a nation.

• Read some of our alumni stories to hear some of the voices of new leadership emerging from our open programs.
• Read a snapshot of SLA in 2011 to get a sense of the diversity of ways in which we are working to transform Australian leadership thinking and practice.

Our approach

Social Leadership Australia has introduced a new leadership philosophy to Australia—a fearless approach to learning that disrupts traditional thinking and empowers leaders with tools to bring about lasting change.

Unique in Australia, our world-class programs employ the Adaptive Leadership approach developed by Professor Ron Heifetz and his colleagues at Harvard University — but we take this powerful model to a new level by teaching in the 'real world', not in a classroom. Robust community engagement is a key part of all of our programs.