by Paul Somers and Lynne Munnich*
Australia’s Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, has been a staunch advocate of public education for many years.
Sam is a long-term Public Education Foundation (PEF) Ambassador. She attended two PEF events in late 2024. She has also spoken of being a ‘beneficiary of the public education system’[i] in her formative years.
This advocacy reflects her aspiration for Australia to be a nation that epitomises ‘kindness, care and respect’.
Who is Sam Mostyn?
Samantha Joy Mostyn AC is an Australian lawyer, businesswoman, sports administrator, policy adviser and advocate for social justice causes. Since July 2024, she has served as the 28th Governor-General of Australia.
Sam grew up as the eldest of four sisters, the youngest of whom has an intellectual disability. When Sam was very young, her father’s military service took him and his family to the United States and Canada. Sam then spent time with her grandmother in Adelaide while her father served in Vietnam.
‘We learned to be resilient,’[ii] she has said.
By the early 1970s, the family had returned to Canberra, where Sam attended three public schools – Curtin South Primary, Woden Valley High School and Narrabundah College.
She has described the education she received at these schools in glowing terms.
‘I was nurtured, challenged, encouraged and given the gift of seeing my own potential as boundless,’ the Governor-General has said.
‘I will be forever grateful for the years I spent in the classroom as a young learner, where teachers opened my world to possibility – not just in the formal syllabus but by fostering curiosity, inquiry and a questioning mind.’
She later completed an Arts/Law degree at the Australian National University while working as a researcher for the ACT’s Chief Magistrate. She also worked part-time in the Magistrate’s Court of New South Wales and as an associate to Justice Michael Kirby in the New South Wales Court of Appeal, before serving as a solicitor with the legal firms Freehills and Gilbert + Tobin.
In the 1990s, Sam was a policy adviser for various federal ministers in Canberra, including the Prime Minister, Paul Keating.
Her private sector experience includes appointments as Optus’s director of human resources and corporate development, Cable & Wireless’s global head of human resources, and IAG’s group executive of culture and reputation.
In 2005, she was appointed as the first female member of the AFL Commission, where she helped develop the league’s Respect and Responsibility Policy and advocated for the establishment of the AFL women’s competition.
In 2021, the Australian Financial Review named Sam as Australia’s ‘most influential’ company director, reflecting her work on the boards of companies such as Transurban and Citibank Australia. She is also a past president of Chief Executive Women.
Sam Mostyn and the Public Education Foundation
Sam’s values align closely with those of the Public Education Foundation, which she has supported for many years.
In April 2024, when the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced Sam’s appointment as Governor-General, he described her as ‘an exceptional leader who represents the best of modern Australia.’ 2
‘She has lived her life in the service of a powerful Australian principle: when people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, our nation is a better place,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘Australia will always be a stronger and more successful country when we draw on the skills and smarts of all our citizens.’
Mr Albanese described Sam as ‘a modern and optimistic leader for our modern and optimistic nation. Her leadership reflects our enduring Australian values of equality, fairness and a responsibility to build a better future for the next generation.’
As a PEF Ambassador over several years, Sam has served alongside other Australian luminaries such as Michael Kirby AC CMG, Kim Williams AM (Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Professor Fred Watson AM (astronomer and popular scientist), and Bronwyn Bancroft (Aboriginal artist and designer).
She has a deep understanding of the issues facing many PEF scholarship recipients.
In September 2024, for example, she told the Australian Women’s Weekly about her youngest sister’s intellectual disability.
‘Philosophically, for the family, that was one of the big currents running through our lives,’ Sam said.
‘From a very early age, I would look around at the treatment of people who had a disability or had a different cultural background or were different in any way, and we felt personally aggrieved every time someone was abusive. I remember, as a very young person, having that deep sense that everyone does belong.’[iii]
What is the Public Education Foundation?
The Public Education Foundation is a national not-for-profit organisation that supports students with specific educational needs or talents – students who, without extra help, may struggle to reach their full potential.
We provide life-changing scholarships to young people, teachers and principals in public education.
Our focus is on removing the barriers to achievement created by social and economic disadvantage and on acknowledging and rewarding excellence.
Our role is to enhance the value and reputation of public education, because we know education has the power to change lives and transform communities.
‘Cheers to our Champions’ event
In November 2024, Sam attended a PEF event that we called ‘Cheers to our Champions! A Night of Appreciation for our Volunteers and Donors.’
Emceed by Jane Caro AM, a PEF board member, the event was held to express our appreciation to the Foundation’s many volunteers and donors and raise awareness of the scholarship programs. It also featured keynote addresses by Michael Kirby and Murat Dizdar, Secretary of the NSW Department of Education.
The event demonstrated how PEF scholarships change the lives of recipients and highlighted scholar testimonials to showcase the impact of donations. A focus of the evening was the significance of public education in Australia and the role it plays in securing the nation’s future.
Sam delivered a generous speech supporting these points. She implored those attending to continue championing kindness, care and respect across the public education system and, more broadly, in all interactions.
‘When I was sworn in as your 28th Governor-General, I committed to serving with an unstinting focus on care, kindness and respect,’ she said.
‘Care for each other, care for those who care for others, care for our extraordinary continent and its environmental beauty, care for civics and institutions and care in the way in which we discuss and debate the issues of our time without judgement or rancour.
‘The Public Education Foundation’s donors and volunteers demonstrate the power of care in practice.’
New Year’s Eve event at Admiralty House
On the last evening of December 2024, the Governor-General extended a generous invitation to a large group of PEF scholarship recipients and their families to join her at Admiralty House on the Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the 9:00 pm New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Prime Minister Albanese also paid a surprise visit, as did Australian human rights lawyer and barrister Jennifer Robinson, who co-founded the Acacia Awards with PEF. The Acacia Awards support children in need and build a network of public school alumni to mentor public school students.
The theme of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve festivities, ‘Forward with Heart’, carried a bold, unifying message: the best way forward is together, with compassion.
An example of the Governor-General’s generosity during the evening was when she was overheard saying to a student: ‘You have such a great future ahead of you.’ The student’s response was a smile the size of the Harbour Bridge. Sam then added: ‘… but be sure to just enjoy tonight.’ The student’s grin widened even further.
These are lines that balance Sam and the PEF’s belief in students’ potential with a reminder to enjoy the present moment – in this case, a spectacular fireworks display on an iconic harbour, watched by a television audience of 425 million people worldwide.
In the words of one relieving principal who attended, the event ‘was much more than an evening of celebration; it was a moment that brought students, families and schools together and offered a profound connection to Australia's rich heritage and future. For many of our families and students, especially those new to our country and who are working and contributing to their school and communities, last night was a powerful symbol of welcome and belonging.’
Kindness, care and respect
On the occasion of her investiture as Governor-General in July 2024, Sam outlined her aspirations for the nation, articulating her belief in the power of kindness, care and respect in contemporary Australia.
‘Across my career, and particularly in the past decade, I have seen how care can be an uplifting force,’ she said.
‘I’ve seen it in the reform of workplaces, where inclusion and respect now prevail. I’ve seen it in our renewed focus on the roles of teachers, nurses, care workers, and all frontline workers — not just during the crises of bushfires, floods and COVID-19, although very much amplified by those times. I’ve seen it in the advancement of women in all parts of our society. In leadership roles. In sport. In economics and our regulators. Even, slowly but importantly, in the trades and on building sites.
‘Our focus on mental health, particularly for young Australians, is an act of care. As is the focus on our aged and disability sectors, where respect and dignity will define that care.
‘I hope we can continue to extend that sense of care to our stunningly beautiful continent, landscapes and natural environment. But also to our institutions, public debates, and sense of civic responsibility. To the way in which we challenge ourselves and one another, and engage in the contest of ideas that will guide the tough decisions that are needed for our country to thrive.
‘Care has a deep and resonant place in our Australian identity. Care is the gentle thought and the outstretched hand that Australians have always been ready to share when great challenges present themselves. Care is the quieter, better part of ourselves. And it is that sense of care that Simeon and I will seek to depict and amplify as we take on this role.’[iv]
How public education can be improved
Improving public education is key to achieving a kinder, more caring and more respectful nation. Getting public education right is vital for the future of this country (and the world), despite significant headwinds.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal number 4 is to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’[v] It’s a goal that requires considerable attention in Australia and elsewhere.
UN statistics show that, while completion rates in primary and lower secondary education continue to improve worldwide, this progress is at a slower pace than that of the preceding eight-year period.
Socioeconomic disparities continue to be prevalent in education, based on factors such as gender, location and household wealth, with rural and less affluent families facing the greatest challenges. These gaps widen in higher education, with increased dropout rates and fewer opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This is particularly the case among First Nations peoples, both in Australia and worldwide. Also, only half of all primary schools worldwide have the basic infrastructure and materials to provide an adequate schooling experience to pupils with disabilities.
In Australia, we have yet to reach the base Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) agreed to by governments over ten years ago as part of the Gonski reforms. The SRS is the minimum amount of funding required to provide a baseline education to students.[vi]
As PEF board member Jane Caro has written, ‘Every public school in Australia, bar a handful in the ACT, is underfunded.’[vii]
According to Glenn Savage (Associate Professor of Education Policy and the Future of Schooling at the University of Melbourne) and Pasi Sahlberg (Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne), ‘the ongoing failure to fairly resource and set meaningful reforms for our schools is a symptom of a broken national funding system.’[viii]
Savage and Sahlberg suggest three measures to improve the situation. First, set meaningful targets to ‘narrow achievement gaps between equity groups.’ Second, ensure accountability for the targets, to ensure ‘states and territories cannot escape or delay their obligations to improve equity and learning outcomes.’ Third, distance the politics from school funding to ‘ensure funding decisions remain fair and consistent across the nation.’
The role of public education in building a better Australia
Such measures align with the Governor-General’s aspiration to inject more kindness, care and respect into Australian society.
At the ‘Cheers to our Champions’ event, she explained how public education can help the nation reach its full educational potential.
‘Giving young Australians the insight and understanding to contribute to our great democracy, civics education provides them with the tools to care for our institutions as citizens and participate in our democracy as voters,’ Sam said.
‘In the same way, through knowledge of our history and heritage, they are equipped to celebrate, be thankful for and work to strengthen what is mighty about this country, the landscapes of our stunningly beautiful continent, 65,000 years of Indigenous culture, shared so generously by the oldest continuing culture in the world, our British institutions of law and democracy, and the vibrant, successful, multicultural society we celebrate as modern Australia, underpinned by the remarkable multiculturalism of over half a century - where almost 7.5 million migrants and almost 1 million refugees have made Australia home.
‘With over 50% of Australians from overseas or with parents born overseas, Australia’s future is built on our rich diversity - something that is so wonderfully present in our education system.
‘It is the privilege of public education to deliver this knowledge in open and optimistic classrooms.
‘So that, as our children and young people learn and grow, they can judge with wisdom, seek truth with insight and forge their own path with confidence.’
What we can do
It’s up to all of us, as Australian citizens, to support this mission of building a fairer, more equitable education system.
As Sam has said of her family upbringing, ‘We just had this sense of … showing up, doing the right thing, and remaining humble.
‘Those formative years set in train [the questions]: What does service look like? What does integrity look like? What are you really going to stand for? And don’t get too full of yourself along the way.’[ix]
In the year ahead and beyond, we can all actively collaborate in our commitment to lifelong learning – for ourselves and the young people in our nation.
By taking action – perhaps by mentoring, donating or volunteering – we can create opportunities for students that open doors and empower them to thrive and achieve their dreams.