E19| Elizabeth Crouch AM FAICD: Opportunity, Resilience and Service

With an extraordinary portfolio spanning health, education, water, banking and sport, Elizabeth Crouch AM FAICD has built a board career defined by leadership, continuous learning and a deep commitment to public service.

In this episode of the 20 Years of Women on Boards podcast, Elizabeth joins Claire Braund to reflect on the experiences that have shaped her journey from a 16-year career in the federal public service to becoming one of Australia’s most experienced Chairs.

Today, Elizabeth chairs six organisations, including Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, the Customer Owned Banking Association, Catholic Schools Parramatta, Ochre Health, Hunter Water Corporation and Hearing Australia. She is also Deputy Chair of the NSW Institute of Sport, serves on the Council of the University of Newcastle and is Emerita Deputy Chancellor of Macquarie University.

Despite the breadth of her portfolio, Elizabeth remains committed to making space to learn, reflect and challenge her own thinking. She is also, she admits, getting better at saying no.

Leadership under scrutiny

Elizabeth’s career has included involvement in major public infrastructure and legacy projects, from hospitals and schools to the delivery of Sydney’s Opal card.

When she joined the RailCorp board, the ticketing project was already seven years overdue. As Chair, Elizabeth helped make the difficult decision to draw a line under the existing project and refocus on the outcome it needed to achieve.

The experience reinforced lessons she continues to take into the boardroom: understand your stakeholders, make timely decisions and stay focused on the outcome.

Above all, she says, when operating under intense scrutiny, directors need to “communicate, communicate, communicate.”

Staying ahead of emerging risk

Continuous learning has remained a feature of Elizabeth’s board career. Recognising the growing cyber threat facing organisations, she returned to university and completed a Master of Cybersecurity in 2021.

It is knowledge she says she now uses every day.

For directors, she believes two critical cyber questions are understanding who is in your business and supply chain, and how quickly your organisation can respond when something goes wrong.

Elizabeth also discusses what different sectors can learn from each other - from the entrepreneurial thinking of founder-led companies to the close connection not-for-profits often have with their customers and stakeholders.

Many pathways to the boardroom

A long-standing Women on Boards member, Elizabeth recalls thinking WOB was the “missing link” when it was established - providing women with a forum and network to help build their board careers.

She believes one of WOB’s important contributions has been showing women that there are many pathways to achieving their board ambitions.

Looking to the future, Elizabeth believes board diversity must extend beyond gender. She sees an important opportunity to bring more younger, digitally native people into boardrooms, particularly as organisations navigate AI and emerging technology.

Asked to sum up her journey over the past 20 years in three words, Elizabeth chose:

Opportunity. Resilience. Service.

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