Social progress lags national wealth, says new Paul Ramsay Foundation chief

New head of Australia’s richest foundation urges action on deep national disadvantage.

Professor Kristy Muir.

The new head of Australia’s richest philanthropic body, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, says the sector needs to partner more closely with government to solve the entrenched disadvantage in Australian society.

Kristy Muir, whose role was announced on Thursday, takes over as chief executive at the $4bn foundation following the move by former CEO Glyn Davis to the role of secretary at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Albanese government.

Professor Muir said despite Australia’s increasing wealth over many decades, disadvantage was deep and multi-dimensional. “If you look at the increasing wealth over time, you look at GDP growth in Australia over the last 30 years, we were the envy of the world,” she says.

“If you track Australia’s social progress along that same time, we did not invest in (it) at the rate at which our wealth was growing. That’s something that we need to think about as a society.”

Professor Muir, who has been at the Ramsay since last year, spent five years as chief of the multi-university Centre for Social Impact, and is a professor of social policy in the business school at UNSW in Sydney.

Over a 30-year career in the sector, she has undertaken more than 100 social impact projects in partnership with governments, not-for-profits, corporates, academics and philanthropists.

She said a key issues in delivery of programs was that often “interventions and funding happens, policy programs, practices happen, and it’s not what the community wants”.

“We don’t have enough self-determination for First Nations people and communities, and the people who are closest to the problems who usually have the solutions aren’t being brought forward to be part of what happens next in an empowering and engaging way,” Professor Muir said.

“The big challenge that we have as a country … is how do we come together to really seriously change the trajectory that we’ve been on historically?

“Philanthropy’s a really important piece of the puzzle but we’re one cog in the wheel of many.

“We really need to be better about how we come together – governments, philanthropy, not for profits, corporates who are interested in pursuing a different kind of Australia into the future.”