Rising Leadership Program

Rising Leadership Program

The Rising Leadership Program is designed for leaders at the mid-point in their leadership journey, from all industries and sectors, who are looking to take their leadership – of self, team and organisation – to new levels.

It is delivered as an experiential, face-to-face Program where Participants advance as leaders through personal and collective understanding, reflection and action.

There are two Rising cohorts each year – commencing in March and June. The Program runs across six months (approximately) and includes 10 Experiences (12 days) held at different locations across Perth. Regional leaders are invited to view our range of Scholarships, including those aimed at supporting participants from country WA.

Transformational Scholarships 

• View our many Scholarship opportunities, including the Lotterywest Community Leadership Scholarships, the CTF Construction Leaders Scholarships and the Mt Burdett Regional Scholarships, here.

University Recognition of Prior Learning

• All Graduates of the Rising Leadership Program will receive advanced standing/credit from the four WA public universities for their Master of Business Courses. Each University offers specific credit, see more below.

Rising in Overview

A uniquely structured, immersive cohort learning experience, Rising is delivered during Experience Days that are each focused on a specific leadership theme.

It includes collaborative group work, opportunities for reflection, structured learning and engaging insights from expert speakers, industry leaders, Project mentors, the Leadership WA team and, importantly your cohort peers.

Experience Days are held on site at the organisations of our Program Partners, which may be located anywhere in the Perth metro area (there are no regional Experiences for Rising). These ‘real world’ locations give our Participants a unique insight into how our host organisations operate, as well as often providing the opportunity to meet their leaders, see the business in operation and take behind the scenes tours.

• Your Learning Outcomes
  • Please see the Rising Brochure for detailed information on the learning outcomes, including the 3 Foundational Pillars of Rising.
• Your Commitment
  • Experience Days are held in-person and generally run from 8.30/9.00am to 4.30pm
  • Each Experience requires up to 2 hours of preparation ahead of the day and a written reflection following it
  • Additional time, outside of Experiences, is needed as part of the collaborative Community Impact Project
  • Attendance is expected at all Experience Days
    • Due to the experiential nature of Rising, missed Experiences are unable to be replicated
    • Compulsory Experiences include the full Orientation and Experience 10 (final day) to qualify for Graduation
    • A minimum 80% attendance is required to graduate the Program and be eligible for the Alumni and University RPL
    • If the above attendance requirements may be difficult to achieve, we recommend applying for a future cohort
• Your Application
  • Selection for Rising is highly sought.
  • Aim to spent sufficient time on your application (which can be commenced, saved and completed in stages until submitted).
  • Aim to submit your application ahead of the closing date (as interview commence prior to closing).
  • If you need assistance to apply or have accessibility requirements, please be in touch with us at Rising@leadershipwa.org.au.

Leadership WA Alumni Community

Following completion of the Program you will join an influential community of more than 1,400 active and engaged Leadership WA Alumni.

Our Alumni community comes together regularly to continue to develop and learn, connect and support each other, and to give back. This includes contributing to Leadership WA Programs, activities and projects, as well as supporting our Skillsbank Initiative. Skillsbank enables Alumni to share their expertise and time, in support of social impact initiatives and activities across WA, resulting in a real and meaningful difference to the WA community.

University Credit for Rising Graduates

Alumni of the Rising Leadership Program will receive advanced standing/credit from the Business Schools of Curtin, ECU, Murdoch and UWA, upon successful graduation from the Program.

Graduates of the Rising Leadership Program will receive credit towards specified Units in approved Courses within each University*:

Curtin University | Credit for Recognised Learning (CRL) provides one credit (1 x 25 credit point unit) in either of the following MBA Programs:

1. Graduate Certificate in Business (complete 3 units instead of 4)
2. Graduate Diploma in Business (complete 7 units instead of 8)
3. MBA (complete 11 units instead of 12)

Edith Cowan University (ECU) | Credit for Recognised Prior Learning (CRPL) entitles credit for the FBL5010 Managing People and Organisations, as follows:

• Graduates from the Rising Leadership Program must apply and be accepted to an ECU course that has FBL5010 as a unit before applying for CRPL
• Once accepted they follow the standard CRPL online application process for unit and basis for credit, then upload the requested information, e.g. certificate of completion
• ECU will apply the credit accordingly

Murdoch University | Advanced Standing into the following Courses:

• Graduate Certificate in Business Administration | C1106 (GCBA) Specified Electives – 3 credit points
• Master of Business Administration | M1256 (MBA) Group B Specified Electives – 3 credit points

The University of Western Australia (UWA) | Credit for Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) provides one unspecified elective of credit in the:

• UWA MBA Program
• UWA MBA Flexible Program
• This leads to the requirement to do one (1) less unit to complete the UWA MBA – thereby completing it in 11 units rather than 12.

* Please note that all Graduates will still be required to meet each University’s standard admission entry requirements, inclusive of both academic requirements and English language proficiency.

Discover more:

To find out more about the Rising Leadership Program and Leadership WA, we invite you to view the following:

• 2026 Rising Brochure and Dates/Fees Flyer for important information
• Leadership WA LinkedIn account to see the Experiences of our current cohorts (and follow+ us to keep up to date)
• Rising Webinar to hear about the Participant experience from those who know it best – our Rising Grads:
  • Rebecca Fitzpatrick (Rising 2021) | Chief Operations Officer, Timpano Legal & Be Health (was Executive Services Manager at Holyoake at time of Webinar)
  • Professor Ryan Loxton (Rising 2024) | Director, Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science at Curtin University

• • • Ryan and Rebecca provide their insights, along with their personal experiences and outcomes
    • They also answer questions and share lots of helpful information, as well as things to consider ahead of applying