Good data decisions start with ethical leadership

Used well, data can solve problems, deliver services more effectively and connect government to people. Used badly, it can lead to flawed and damaging policy implementation that destroys public trust. 

The rise of AI is making ethical use of data an even bigger issues for the public sector and an even more important skill for public sector leaders. Public servants are often dealing with changing technology and driving projects with competing priorities that must balance regulation, risk, innovation, privacy and public trust.  

Expert in data governance, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation and ANZSOG’s Leading Ethical Data Decisions (LEDD) lead faculty Dr Bernadette Hyland-Wood reflects that public sector leaders are currently making more consequential decisions about data and AI than at any point in Australia's administrative history. 

“Agencies are linking data sets across portfolios, deploying algorithmic tools to assess risk and allocate resources and automate processes with AI,” she said. 

“This often directly affects people's lives, through welfare payments, healthcare and interactions with the justice system. These are not just technology decisions, they're leadership decisions that have an ethical dimension that no procurement process, no matter how good it is, or compliance checklist, as complete as it as it is, can resolve on its own.” 

How Robodebt highlighted the need for ethical approaches to data 

Dr Hyland-Wood said that one of the key lessons from the Commonwealth Government’s Robodebt scandal was that an ethical approach to data policy needed to be built into public sector work.  

“Robodebt wasn't sufficiently interrogated. Hard questions weren't asked - or perhaps they were, but people weren't equipped to recognise that a process that appeared lawful was producing outcomes that were really fundamentally unjust,” she said. 

“The Robodebt Royal Commission's 57 recommendations are, at their core, a call for a different kind of leadership capability - the ability to apply ethical reasoning under institutional pressure.” 

She said that ethical decision making in data and AI was a core leadership capability that would lead to better policy in the long-term. 

 “Agencies that embed ethical reasoning into their data practises have been found to make better decisions as they identify risks earlier. They design more trustworthy systems and build for the kind of public confidence that enables more ambitious use of data for genuine public benefit.” 

“Ethical practise is not a constraint on innovation, it’s a precondition for it.” 

Adding an ethical approach to data regulations 

Governments are in a unique position, due to the fact that citizens sometimes cannot avoid providing their data if they need to access services. This creates an imbalance that must be addressed – not just through legal frameworks but by putting an ethical lens over data use. 

“We'll talk in the course a lot about this asymmetry, which creation people have no meaningful choice about whether they provide their data, the burden of responsibility for how that data is used,” Dr Hyland-Wood said. 

“It’s a very different kind of accountability that demands a different standard of care. The consequences of using AI tools has really amplified its importance and, in practice, public sector leaders now must ask questions that the compliance framework didn't require them to ask.” 

These issues are magnified when it comes to data collected from First Nations and Māori communities, which have historically not consented to, or had control over, data collection and use. 

In the LEDD program, First Nations and Māori guest presenters highlight the ethical and practical importance of Indigenous Data Sovereignty. 

“It's a fundamental question about who has the right to govern data about Indigenous peoples, their territories, their resources and their knowledge,” Dr Hyland-Wood said. 

“Data is not a neutral administrative resource. It carries cultural meaning. It reflects relationships and obligations and it can cause harm when it is extracted from community and people without context that gives it meaning. 

“We have decades of evidence showing that, when it comes to health, education and justice, data policy without community engagement, without community co-design and governance produces pretty poor results and deepens distrust.” 

Dr Hyland-Wood said that it’s important for leaders to feel equipped not only to identify ethical risks but be comfortable in a meeting to articulate why they matter and what options there are available to do something about them. 

“[The LEDD] is not a theory for theory's sake course. It's very much interactive preparation for the decisions already on your desk today,” she said. 

Leading Ethical Data Decisions at a glance 

Information Session: 

Tuesday 25 August 2026 | 12:00–12:45pm AEST.  

Register here and see if the program is right for you 

Who it’s for: public sector leaders and managers working with data, policy, regulation or service delivery who oversee or contribute to data-driven projects and want to ensure these initiatives meet ethical standards and community expectations 

When is it:  

5 - 30 October 2026 

4 x 2-hour online sessions complemented by 2-3 hours per week of offline learning 

What you will learn: 

Leading Ethical Data Decisions provides space to step back from technical detail and focus on judgement, responsibility and trust. Through discussion and reflection, participants explore how to use data in ways that are ethical, lawful and aligned with public expectations in complex government environments. 

You’ll get the frameworks, vocabulary, and the practical tools you need to navigate these decisions with clarity and with integrity. 

Whether you're assessing a data sharing proposal or seeing an algorithmic system or hopefully not in this position, but defending agencies approach under scrutiny, you'll work through real-world public sector scenarios and you'll build the kind of applied ethical reasoning that compliance training alone can't provide. 

Register Now for the 2026 program. Early bird pricing is available for a limited time  

Want to have a chat? 

Contact us at engage@anzsog.edu.au or 1300 ANZSOG