The ten global shifts influencing government agencies and their decision making

Global Challenges Are Redefining How Government Organisations Operate — What’s Ahead for the Next Decade?

The way government organisations make decisions, regulate industries, and deliver services is being reshaped by forces that are global in scale and immediate in impact. From artificial intelligence to climate change, the next decade will test how well we adapt to a world where uncertainty and disruption have become the norm.

To better understand how government organisations are preparing, TargetedBrains is running the annual Governance Study 2025. This year, the focus is on the global challenges that will shape the way public institutions work — and how they can stay effective, fair, and resilient.

What challenges are on the horizon?

We’ve identified ten shifts already influencing government agencies and their decision-making:

Artificial intelligence and automation: Transforming how work is done and how decisions are made, while raising tough ethical and accountability questions.
Climate change: Driving new regulations, public expectations, and the need to manage environmental risks.
Geopolitical tensions: Redefining trade, alliances, and access to resources, with flow-on effects for government priorities.
Cybersecurity and data privacy: Escalating threats and increasingly complex rules around how data is stored and shared.
Conflict and instability: Events abroad that create shocks to our economy, security, and policy environment.
Cost of living pressures: Affecting communities directly, with calls for government to respond to affordability and fairness.
Gender and income inequality: Persistent gaps that influence policy settings and demand more equitable approaches.
Hybrid work: Changing expectations about flexibility, safety, and productivity in the public sector workforce.
Regulatory complexity: Overlapping, evolving rules that require clarity and adaptability from agencies.
Social media risks: Misinformation and reputational risks that influence trust in government and policy debate.

Individually, these challenges are significant. Together, they will shape how government organisations set priorities, make decisions, and regulate in the public interest.

Contribute to the Governance Study 2025

About the study

The survey is short and straightforward. It asks agencies to consider:

Which of these global shifts will affect your work the most?
How prepared do you feel to respond?
What kinds of changes to decision-making, regulation, and organisational practice are already emerging?
The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, but the insights will be invaluable. By bringing together perspectives from different levels and roles across government, the study will highlight where agencies are well-placed, where pressures are mounting, and what areas may need more collective focus.

Why get involved?

Strong decision-making and effective regulation sit at the heart of good government. By sharing your perspective, you’ll help build a national picture of how prepared the public sector is for the decade ahead.

Your input will remain confidential, and results will be published later this year as part of the annual Governance Study — a resource to inform practice, policy, and planning across government.

As a thank you for completing the survey, you will gain early access to the results and the report, as well as an invitation to attend our free roundtable events, where we will explore each of the challenges in greater detail with Australia’s leading experts.

Take part today

The survey is now open. If you work in government and play a role in leadership, management, governance, service delivery, program management, or regulatory decision-making, we’d like to hear from you.

It only takes a few minutes, but your voice will help shape how government responds to the defining global challenges of our time.

Contribute to the Governance Study 2025