R/GA launches new government practice led by Tish Karunaratha with the Australian Government as founding client

R/GA has today announced the launch of its new government practice led by Tish Karunarathna (pictured), who will oversee a newly formed partnership between the agency and the Australian Government as its founding client.

This partnership adds to R/GA’s Australian client portfolio, which includes Toyota, Nike, Google, Victorian State Government, and TPG Telecom.

This work will see the global creative and digital product agency build a large-scale team that leverages on R/GA’s core practices and services the client in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

R/GA’s new practice will help government create a more human future by bridging the gap between public policy and citizen engagement. With a focus on emerging consumer attitudes and behaviours, it will leverage the award-winning agency’s existing capabilities across brand, communications, experience, data and technology.

Says Michael Titshall, senior vice president, Australia at R/GA: “More than ever before governments need to adapt to changing societal expectations at speed. Tish has a track record of leading ground-breaking work and a deep understanding of Australia’s public sector.”

Karunarathna has worked with clients including the Department of Defence, Services Australia, Australian Institute of Sport, Macquarie Group, Qantas and University of Western Sydney, and garnered global awards including Clios, Good Design, and both Adobe and Sitecore Experience Awards.

Adds Titshall: “Tish has led award-winning brand, customer and technology transformation programs across government, enterprise, and start-up sectors. Most recently, he was a Director at Deloitte, where he led the integration of its digital capability across consulting practices and technology alliances to better serve the needs of its Federal Government clients.”

Karunarathna said he is looking forward to building on his previous experience spearheading government strategy at Deloitte, Merkle and Isobar: “It is essential that Government sees creativity as a transformational tool to orchestrate human experiences. Over the last eight-months I’ve been excited to see a genuine appetite for new thinking, new ideas and new approaches to solve public policy challenges. R/GA is an agency in a category of its own: combining the strategic thinking of a consultancy, the brand and communications of a creative agency, and the product design and engineering of a tech unicorn.”