Brisbane 2032: Risk and Leadership Insights from Sydney 2000

Andrew McCormack:

Hello and welcome to Ashurst’s Business Agenda podcast. My name is Andrew McCormack and I am a partner in Ashurst's Project & Energy Transition Team

As the lead of our Brisbane 2032 working group, it is with great pleasure that I bring you this series of bite-sized episodes revisiting key talking points from our 2032 and Beyond Podcast Series.

In these special episodes, we will take a detailed look at a range of important issues that are relevant to the Queensland Government's recently unveiled plans for the venues, infrastructure, and transport planning for the Brisbane 2032 Games.

Welcome to this Part 1 of a 2 part episode, where we look back at our previous discussion on Olympic Games lessons in leadership and risk management.

As we prepare for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, lessons from previous Games are more relevant than ever.

From people-centred planning and risk management to legacy and the involvement of First Nations communities, these themes continue to shape how we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead.

In this episode, you’ll hear directly from someone who has been there before. Ashurst partner Dan Brown speaks to expert, Bob Walker, who helped lead the crisis, risk and emergency preparedness for the 2000 Sydney Olympic games.

Bob provides a number of key insights on lessons learned from past Olympics in successful leadership and risk management, and what's ahead for Brisbane 2032.

Let's hear from Dan and Bob.

Dan Brown:

And so, when I take away the high profile athletes, when I take away the massive stadia and infrastructure that needs to be built, when I take away the really glitzy and glamorous and well-choreographed opening and closing ceremonies, for me I feel like the Olympics is really just about people. People, people, people, as Brene Brown says. But I know that you've got a really rich and colourful history supporting Olympic games and also other global games. But maybe that's a good place to start from the outset really is just how did you get involved in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney?

Bob Walker:

Thanks, Dan. So how did I get involved? Sometimes the team that was involved, we still ask ourself that question. I was part of a small boutique consultancy in Sydney, and we had carved out a bit of a niche for ourself in emergency management, emergency preparedness crisis management. And we'd been working with the education departments and types, and universities, and some venues. And we started to see as the infrastructure build for Sydney started to occur because Sydney had won the games, the venues started to pop up and we started to get more involved in helping them think through the emergency response processes and then training their staff up. And it just naturally evolved. And then an opportunity came up for us to get significantly involved with Sydney in the form of a whole range of different, what I'd say, risk management activities.

Dan Brown:

And I guess for the benefit of our listeners, when we talk about risk management and risk management activities, at its core, what does that mean practically?

Bob Walker:

Yeah, oh, what a great question. For me, risk is about what is it that we're trying to do. In this case, it was to put on a massive event. Thinking through, what are all of those things that could not go to plan and trying to actually stop that in that planning process and mitigate it there, or at least having some response mechanism in place to correct it if whatever it was to get off track. So risk at its essence is, now everything we do, we take some level of risk. It's about making sure that we understand what that risk is and that we're prepared to take that risk, and making sure that we've got the right level of control in place where we can.

Dan Brown:

Yeah, and I imagine there's a whole bunch of reasons why we need to do those risk assessments and put in place those risk management arrangements. But would it be fair to say that in some ways, when we distill this down to its most simple, I use that word flippantly actually in the context of delivering an Olympic games. If we distill that down into a number of simple concepts, I imagine really a lot of this risk management piece is all about ensuring that everybody who attends or participates in those games has an amazing experience, that people piece, right? I imagine we can boil it down to that, yeah?

Bob Walker:

Yeah, yeah. And you and I have spoken about this before, but my belief is that the games are really all about the people, they're put on by people, for people and for the community so that we can understand it. The issue with that is that when you have people involved in a process, there's always an element that might not go to plan. And so we have to plan for that bit, right. And so that's what, that's the essence of risk and safety management.

Dan Brown:

Yeah, that's actually a really interesting juxtaposition, isn't it? Because at the end of the day, you're delivering something for people by the people, but by having people involved in that process, things don't go to plan.

Bob Walker:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Dan Brown:

I imagine that most of the times when you're delivering those games actually been challenging to maintain focus or keep line of sight on the fact that we need to put the people at the centre of every choice decision we make around this, because it's ultimately an experiential element isn't the game.

Bob Walker:

Certainly. And I would say that that was front of mind for everybody that was involved in those games, whether you were employed in one of the venues or employed by SOCOG to actually deliver something, or whether you were volunteering. You have to remember at an Olympic games, you have the largest volunteer workforce that ever gets assembled to come together for two weeks of the games and then for the Paralympic games too. And we should never forget that they cross over the pipe of the two. And so that's monumental. That's a lot of people, right? And so it takes good leadership and to make sure that it is front of mind. I always remember, so Sandy Hollway, who was the Chief Executive Officer for SOCOG was a real people person. And I learned that lesson from him 20 odd years ago that I have had absolutely maintain fronting century in my practice and how I've managed going forward.

Bob Walker:

It's about knowing your people and trusting your people, it's setting the right direction and giving them some latitude to be able to do that. Sandy used to walk the floor on a Friday in that main building where all of the planning for the most amazing games was occurring with some of the smartest people in the world that had come together to do it. And he would know them by name, he would know what their families were up to. And he just created a culture and an environment that was inclusive well before its time, that just drove everybody on that singular path to do the best they could do for those games.

Dan Brown:

That's an immense burden but also a privilege in some ways, isn't it? To have that role and to be able to discharge that role in a way where you're effectively taking everybody along for the journey because you have to, right?

Bob Walker:

And such an amazing environment, because we hadn't done it for such a long time. Melbourne was the games before it was the biggest, biggest infrastructure build in the country. It was the, as I said, the biggest volunteer workforce coming together, it was the biggest international workforce coming together to pull us together. And Sandy and his team were actually making sure all those pieces fit. I'm still in awe.

Dan Brown:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and I think that's a really important distinction around, I think it was 56 we had the Melbourne Olympics. 2000 we get to Sydney Olympics. The world had changed substantially in that period of time. And not just the world, but Australia as a growing nation had changed fundamentally. And that's probably a nice lead into my next question for you. How has the world changed since Sydney? How is it likely to change, it's like a double barrel question, sorry. But effectively, what I'm trying to understand is from a risk perspective, from the core of the work that you do, how is that going to impact the ability to deliver the Olympics here in Brisbane in terms of the way that the world has changed?

Bob Walker:

So thanks for the big questions. So I would say two things. So it certainly changed almost immediately. We know that in 2001, there was an invent in in America that changed the world forever. So 911. And so we looked to Salt Lake City games where I was part of that following year, the security posture had just changed considerably. So we'll never retreat back from that posture, that posture is there. And there is a very mature mechanism in place now that all countries have an understanding of what that needs to look like and how they cooperate on that. And so that's probably out of my remit to really talk about as well. But, so there is that security posture that's there. I think that you've got technology that's changed, you've got people's expectations have changed. There's a whole range of things that have changed for us as a nation from 2002 to when Brisbane puts it on.

Bob Walker:

The one thing that hasn't changed too much is the people. So people are still people and they want to come along and they want to be part of something. They want to be engaged and they want to own a piece of it. And whether that's by volunteering or whether that's by being a spectator or just being proud that it's in their state or in their country, everyone has a level of wanting to be involved in the games. And so, yes, there's been some significant change and there's been some cultural change in Australia as well, but at the heart of that still is people. And so that still means that our risk identification and assessment process fundamentally has matured, but it's still there and designed to help people enjoy the games and for the games to go on.

Dan Brown:

Fundamentally the thing that hasn't changed is that the games are all about the people. And yet, while we might be spending more time in our phones than we did it back in 2000s and using a whole lot of different technology, the other thing that I guess needs to be balanced with that is potentially at first blush, there's this overarching desire to go, all right, we just need to build and deliver the infrastructure in order to have the best games ever and the best experience ever.

But in fact, how do we actually go about in a very mindful way of delivering the best Olympics ever, but ensuring that the work that's done, the infrastructure that's developed is an enduring legacy that doesn't become a white elephant, that doesn't become moth balled. And that actually continues to add value for future, perhaps generations off the back of that Olympic success. Because I imagine from even from a risk management perspective around things like redundancy, that's going to be a really tough role for you guys to be able to think about all those things.

Bob Walker:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of that sits back in the business case that each of the countries in host cities put together to be able to demonstrate there's that cost benefit analysis. And Actually being the host to, what does that deliver for our community from a games perspective or what's the enduring legacy that it delivers. And I'm sure that government would have had that front and centre on their mind as to what it is.

Dan Brown:

Thinking about the role that you had in Sydney and having to think about all of those things around risk, but also future-proofing a lot of the processes, procedures, and also infrastructure that was built. Let's fast forward to the Brisbane experience. Pretend for a moment that you're leading the risk piece on that. What are the considerations that are going to be front of mind? It's like, I guess in some ways, it's the old saying, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time. But what are some of the priorities and what would be some of the priorities for you if you were leading the charge on the risk-based around delivering the Brisbane Olympics.

Bob Walker:

Wow, that is a big question. I suppose, fundamentally you need to understand what the expectation is around delivery. What are we delivering and where. And then wanting that back as to understanding what's the resource and resource infrastructure commitments for those. What are the issues and or risks that sit around those. How do we control that. And always, what's our plan B. And when you've got, you're so far out that actually nothing is set in stone and so there is absolutely going to be a meandering path through that process of bringing together the right level of infrastructure, the right level of technology. I would even say that the technology that's going to be used in Brisbane is not even developed yet.

Bob Walker:

So I think you've got to keep yourself open, know what the big pieces are, know how they connect together. Know what the risk is if they don't connect together and get good people around you that actually understand that intimately and can help you bring it together.

Dan Brown:

Yeah, right. And I guess for the benefit of our listeners, when you reflect on the role that you did in Sydney, what numbers of people are we talking about on a daily basis having to be successfully moved around Sydney or a venue? What's the magnitude?

Bob Walker:

So I think from memory, and it's a while ago, the largest day, the largest people movement, if you like, was, there was one day when the Sydney Olympic, gee, I can't remember the precinct, was full. So the stadium was full for the morning session, the show grounds and all the diamond pavilions as they were called, they were full. So everything was full and there was a change over. During that change over, there was effectively half a million people in that precinct, either coming out of the venue or going into a venue. And so you have to remember this public transport has to bring those people in and take those people out. And it was just amazing. And the reality is if you put half a million people together, somebody is going to die. It's just the law of averages.

Bob Walker:

You've got so many people together, not from any nefarious means and obvious, and they die. And so that you've got to, you're thinking through that process about, by bringing 500,000 people together, what's going to happen. What do I need to be prepared for. What are our emergency services. And lots of layers of planning. It was nine layers of contingency planning and testing for all of the events and all of the venues in the lead up to actually hosting the game. So there's a lot of preparation around that stuff. 500,000 people is a lot of people, right.

Bob Walker:

 And when you think about it, there is going to be queues, and there are going to be long queues while you're waiting to get on a bus or waiting to get onto a train. So part of the control strategies is making sure that you have spectator services, people or visitor interaction type people, but people with big personalities standing out the front, clearly visible in the Olympic uniform, engaging with people and keeping them happy and more, all of those things to take their mind off the fact that they might be standing in that line for an hour.

Bob Walker:

Well, if you think about risk management, you then say, "All right, so we know that because we know the capacities of our venues, we know the schedule, we know that it's going to happen. All right, what do we need to do? What are the plans in place?" So that's the risk management process. 

Andrew McCormack:

We'll leave part 1 there, having already heard some really interesting insights from Bob on risk management around crowds and people-centred planning. The lessons from Sydney and beyond remind us that while the world changes, certain core values and challenges still endure.

Make sure you tune in for part 2 of this Episode to hear more from Bob and Dan about enduring legacy, and genuine First Nations involvement—which remain at the heart of what will make the 2032 Games a success.

Thank you for listening to Ashurst Business Agenda, and this episode in our 2032 and Beyond mini-series.

In the meantime, to hear other Business Agenda episodes, including full episodes of 2032 and Beyond, you'll find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. While you're there, feel free to subscribe to Ashurst Business Agenda and leave us a rating or review.