Fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso has a motto ‘be curious not judgmental’ and that’s what Queensland Rail General Counsel Rory Kilpatrick advises when considering a government role.
The experienced in-house counsel and former litigator shared the upsides of public sector work as well as the challenges at Wednesday’s Queensland Law Society In-house Lawyers Breakfast Series.
Practitioners from Brisbane and Townsville enjoyed the event.
Rory urged the audience in both Brisbane and online in Townsville to “stay curious, ask questions, challenge respectfully and keep learning”.
“There is always the opportunity within government to continue to develop and grow,” he said.
Rory revealed that his initial move to the public sector surprised some, but he was drawn “by the calibre of the people” and “the opportunity to really be part of an organisation that contributes every day”.
“I know it sounds like I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid, and to a certain extent I probably have, but the opportunity to contribute to getting hundreds of thousands of people to where they need to be every day was really something that inspired me,” he said.
“The customer-centric mindset is really embedded in everything we do at Queensland Rail.”
Rory discussed some of the key differences between the government and the corporate sector highlighting the focus on public interests over commercial outcomes, along with the different pace and risk appetite.
He talked about the core challenges he had faced including one identified in the room – bureaucracy.
“It’s real. It exists. We can’t avoid it. We can’t deny it doesn’t happen in government,” he said. “Government involves multiple levels of approval, policy alignment, stakeholder engagement. Whilst these processes are essential for transparency and accountability, it does slow things down.”
Rory said he drove his team to look for opportunities to implement change but acknowledged this could take time.
“Someone labelled it one day as trying to turn the Titanic, it can be done, but you’ve got to do it slowly and you’ve got to follow the right process.”
Rory also talked about the significant upsides of government roles, with purpose-driven work being a significant benefit, and laughingly hoped he hadn’t scared anyone off.
“I severely underestimated the feeling of achievement you get from working on projects that really do have a positive impact on the community,” he said. “It was one of the reasons that brought me over.”
He mentioned the satisfaction of Queensland Rail recently delivering station upgrades which improved accessibility for customers.
“You really do feel like you are making a difference. It is a massive upside.”
Other benefits included work-life balance, career pathways and exposure to complex and interesting legal issues.
“There’s obviously some great projects going on such as Cross River Rail and the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line,” Rory said.
Rory highlighted that the diverse, and sometimes bizarre, nature of what comes across the desk of a lawyer in Queensland Rail.
“We recently had a query come through to our team on whether someone could bring their emotional support lizard on the train with them. It is a really diverse environment!”
Day One Recruitment was the event partner. The breakfast series is a regular event on the QLS calendar for in-house practitioners, hosted by In-House Counsel Committee Chair Philip Ware.
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