Service has been the hallmark of Haydn’s career, spanning the Australian Regular Army, the South Australia Police, and most recently, the Australian Border Force, where 2021 marked his 36th year in uniform.
Haydn has performed operational roles with the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police, South Australia Police, and the Australian Border Force (ABF) in support roles as an intelligence analyst, adult learning facilitator and project manager. He has also filled strategic roles as a regulatory/enforcement advisor, focusing on capacity building for customs and border protection regulation in Papua New Guinea.
Specialising in adult learning and leadership development, Haydn has designed and delivered law enforcement and regulatory learning programs for a range of federal agencies. This has included topics as diverse as evidence handling, statements, search methods and the development of information reports.
After retiring from the ABF in 2021, he became a casual facilitator with the Australian Public Service Commission Academy. Here, he delivers virtual and face-to-face public service leadership, core skills and specialist regulatory practice learning experiences.
A volunteer firefighter with the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) since 2012, Haydn has witnessed frontline leadership from some uniquely challenging perspectives. None more so than during the Black Summer of 2019 – 2020 working in NSW at the Adelaide Hills – Cudlee Creek fire and the equally tragic Kangaroo Island fires. As an adult educator interested in how people learn for leadership, the need for a nationally consistent leadership learning pathway for volunteer firefighters stood out to Haydn, leading to his 2020 Churchill Fellowship to investigate leadership learning options for volunteer emergency first responders.
Haydn has also designed and provided bespoke leadership learning experiences for various federal and state regulatory and emergency service agencies as a consultant. These have focused on team building and assisting leaders to sharpen their focus towards creating effective, positive, psychologically safe, and engaging working environments.
In 2018, Haydn completed an M.Ed. (research) at UniSA focused on exploring learning for ethical leadership in law enforcement and regulatory environments. His other qualifications include:
- Graduate Diploma of Education (Adult, Vocational & Workplace Learning)
- Graduate Certificate in Legal & Justice Studies (Strategic Intelligence)
- Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management
- Bachelor of Social Science (Justice Administration)
- Diploma of Government (Project Management)
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessing
