R/GA Australia boosts public sector offering with senior hires

R/GA Australia, a forward-thinking creative innovation studio, has announced the expansion of its public sector and mission-driven offering, marked by several strategic senior hires from across a range of sectors.

This initiative by R/GA Public Practice is intended to disrupt traditional consulting, agency, and outsourcing models, which have appeared to be losing relevance within the evolving public sector landscape. This effort reflects the sector's growing need for specialist abilities, transparency, and an emphasis on empowering internal teams.

In the last year, R/GA's Public Practice has secured significant successes, including acquiring the Australian Federal Government as its founding client and designing the brand and experience for the Museum of Chinese in Australia. The company also played a prominent role at The Purpose Conference, introduced the digital platform for the Victorian Department of Education, and coordinated The City of Sydney New Years Eve fireworks and Calling Country with Indigenous-owned social enterprise, We Are Warrior.

Executive Director Tish Karunarathna stated, "R/GA's Public Practice is reshaping public sector engagement by turning services into experiences, campaigns into movements, and bureaucracies into brands. In recent months, we've cultivated a seasoned senior team, merging extensive expertise from the public and mission-driven sectors with innovative thinking from diverse industries, to drive fresh and creative approaches."

The newly appointed senior members will substantially enrich R/GA's capabilities, offering different outsider perspectives. Skye Kibbey, who previously worked at Deloitte Digital as Senior Product Strategist, will leverage her two decades of experience. Technology Director Sam Brunno, formerly with Dentsu Merkle, will bring creativity combined with practical tech problem-solving for enterprise and public sector clients.

Joe McKinley, a full-stack design leader transitioning from Deloitte Digital, flaunts significant expertise in diverse design domains, including brand, art direction, interaction, animation, motion, mixed reality, and experiential design. Meanwhile, Group Account Director Nick Trembath, joining from Liquid Interactive, is set to ensure strategic collaboration devoid of silos, capitalising on his 14+ years of diverse experience for timely project outcomes.

Karunarathna further added, "R/GA's Public Practice introduces a nimble, collaborative, mission-first approach focused on helping clients discover culturally relevant strategies for transformative interactions with citizens through creativity, innovation and technology."

Victoria Curro, Managing Director of R/GA Australia, comments, "We're committed to shaping a more human future. Our evolved offering bridges the gap between public policy and citizen engagement, responding to emerging consumer attitudes. Our exciting projects with Commonwealth, State, and public sector organisations truly embody this commitment."