Applying Kotter’s 8 Steps Change Model in the Australian Public Sector

September 11, 2026

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Applying Kotter’s 8 Steps Change Model in the Australian Public Sector

Friday, 11 September 2026

Key takeaways

Kotter’s 8 Step model provides a structured sequence for leading organisational change: from creating urgency through to embedding new behaviours in the culture
The model was developed for corporate settings but applies to public sector reform when adapted for political cycles, legislative constraints and multi-stakeholder accountability
The Australian Public Service Reform agenda, announced in 2022, reflects several of Kotter’s principles including building urgency, forming coalitions and anchoring change in institutional practice
The model’s linear structure is a starting framework, not a rigid prescription. Complex public sector reforms typically require steps to overlap and iterate
Change management is a leadership discipline that can be developed through structured training, not an innate ability reserved for senior executives

Kotter’s 8 Step model is a framework for leading organisational change, developed by Harvard Business School professor John Kotter and published in his 1996 book Leading Change. The eight steps are: create a sense of urgency, build a guiding coalition, form a strategic vision, enlist a volunteer army, enable action by removing barriers, generate short term wins, sustain acceleration and institute change in the culture. The Kotter methodology has become one of the most widely adopted change management frameworks in the world. Originally designed for corporate transformation, it is increasingly applied in public sector settings where the stakes are high, the pace of change is constrained by political and legislative cycles and the number of stakeholders who can resist or enable change is significantly larger.

How do the eight steps work?

The model moves through three phases. The first three steps create the climate for change. The next three engage and enable the organisation. The final two implement and sustain the change. The ITSM.tools analysis of the model describes it as a structured sequence that covers all aspects of a change initiative are considered, with particular emphasis on stakeholder communication and engagement.

Creating a sense of urgency is the first step. Without urgency, people default to the status quo because change is uncomfortable and the existing way of working feels safe. In public sector settings, urgency often comes from external pressure: a critical audit finding, a service failure, a change of government policy or a fiscal constraint that makes the current operating model unsustainable. The second step, building a guiding coalition, means assembling a group with enough authority, credibility and energy to lead the change. In government, this typically means engaging senior executives, operational leaders and key influencers who can carry the message into their teams.

Forming a strategic vision (step three) gives the change direction. The vision answers the question: what will be different when the change is complete? Enlisting a volunteer army (step four) is about building broad based support, not just top down direction. Enabling action by removing barriers (step five) means identifying the structures, processes and behaviours that block progress and dismantling them. Generating short term wins (step six) provides the visible evidence that the change is working, which sustains momentum through the inevitable periods of doubt.

Sustaining acceleration (step seven) warns against declaring victory too early. Change that stalls after the first wins is change that reverts. Instituting change in the culture (step eight) is the step that makes the transformation permanent by embedding new behaviours into how the organisation operates, recruits, promotes and rewards.

What makes the public sector different?

Public sector organisations operate under constraints that corporate change frameworks do not always account for. The PubAdmin Institute’s analysis of Kotter in public administration identifies three distinguishing factors: political cycles, legal frameworks and diverse stakeholder expectations. A government minister who champions a reform may be replaced in a reshuffle. A legislative amendment that enables the change may take months or years to pass. Stakeholders include not just employees and customers but unions, oversight bodies, parliamentary committees and the public.

These constraints do not make Kotter’s model irrelevant. They make each step harder to execute. Creating urgency in a public sector setting requires evidence that is defensible under scrutiny, not just a compelling narrative. The guiding coalition needs to include people who will outlast any single political cycle. The vision must be expressed in terms that survive a change of minister or a machinery of government restructuring. Short term wins must be visible not just internally but to the stakeholders who control funding and policy approval.

The model’s linear structure is also a limitation in complex public sector environments. Kotter himself evolved the framework in his 2014 book Accelerate, recognising that urgency and coalition building never really stop. In practice, public sector leaders apply the eight steps as an iterative framework rather than a sequential checklist, revisiting earlier steps as political conditions shift or new barriers emerge.

How does APS’ Reform agenda reflect these principles?

The Australian Government’s APS Reform agenda, announced in October 2022, provides a contemporary example of Kotter’s principles operating at scale. The APSC’s Reform Annual Progress Report describes a reform program built on four priority pillars with eight measurable outcomes, reaching across 170,000 APS employees in 189 Commonwealth entities. The program draws on the 2019 Independent Review of the APS (the Thodey Review) as its evidence base, which served the urgency function by documenting the gap between the APS’s current capability and what would be required of it.

The guiding coalition for APS Reform includes secretaries, the APSC, the Digital Transformation Agency and senior leaders across departments. The vision is expressed through specific capability themes: a model employer, a trusted institution, a responsive service delivery organisation. Short term wins have been reported through the annual progress report, including workforce diversity improvements, digital service delivery milestones and capability development initiatives. The report acknowledges that transformation is a long term and iterative process, echoing Kotter’s warning against premature declarations of victory.

What are the common mistakes when applying Kotter in government?

Research on Kotter’s model in public administration identifies several recurring mistakes. The first is skipping urgency. Leaders who assume that a policy announcement creates sufficient urgency discover that staff continue operating as before because they have not been shown why the change matters to them personally. The second is assembling a coalition that lacks operational credibility. A guiding coalition composed entirely of senior executives may have authority but lack the trust of frontline staff who are expected to change their behaviour.

The third is confusing activity with progress. Launching new programs, publishing strategy documents and running training sessions can all feel like momentum, but if they do not produce measurable changes in how work is done, they are activity without acceleration. The fourth is declaring victory after step six. Short term wins create relief. There is a strong organisational temptation to move on to the next priority. Kotter’s model insists that embedding change in the culture (step eight) is the step most organisations skip. It is the reason most change programs eventually revert.

How can professionals build change leadership capability?

Change management is a learnable discipline. The skills it requires, including stakeholder analysis, communication planning, resistance management and coalition building, can be developed through structured training. AcademyGlobal (AG), the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Centre of Excellence for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, delivers programs that build change leadership capability for professionals working in complex organisational environments.

AG’s Change Management Essentials program equips professionals with the knowledge and skills to manage organisational change and transformation. It covers the frameworks, tools and human dynamics that determine whether change initiatives succeed or stall. For professionals in leadership roles who are accountable for driving change across teams and divisions, AG’s Leadership & Management Skills programs address the broader leadership capabilities that change management depends on: building trust, communicating under uncertainty and sustaining team performance through periods of disruption.

Kotter’s model endures because it describes what experienced change leaders do instinctively. The value of the framework is that it makes those practices explicit so they can be learned, applied and adapted to the specific context of the organisation undertaking the change.

Frequently asked questions

What are Kotter’s 8 steps for leading change?

The eight steps are: create urgency, build a guiding coalition, form a strategic vision, enlist a volunteer army, enable action by removing barriers, generate short term wins, sustain acceleration and institute change in the culture.

Does Kotter’s model work in the public sector?

Yes, with adaptation. Public sector change operates under political cycles, legislative constraints and multi-stakeholder accountability that require each step to be executed differently than in a corporate setting. The principles are applicable. The execution is more complex.

What is the most commonly skipped step?

Step eight: instituting change in the culture. Most organisations declare victory after generating short term wins (step six) and move on to the next priority. Without embedding new behaviours in the organisation’s operating practices, recruitment, performance management and reward systems, the change typically reverts over time.

Is Kotter’s model meant to be followed in strict order?

The original 1996 model presents the steps sequentially, but Kotter evolved the framework in 2014 to recognise that steps often need to overlap and iterate. In complex environments, urgency and coalition building are continuous activities rather than one time steps.

Where can I develop change management capability?

AcademyGlobal’s Change Management Essentials program covers the frameworks, tools and human dynamics of organisational change for professionals working across public and private sector environments.