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from its study of public sector agencies ( and we see no reason to think it is different for the private sector ) “ the best performing agencies manage risk, while others tend to avoid it. ” in summary : 1. risks are more likely to eventuate when preparedness is inadequate. this is the story of the hlfs - computer - assisted interviewing development and the findur upgrade. all too often, we are over - optimistic that things will go well. 2. the adverse consequences when risks eventuate are generally worse when risk management is limited. for example, disaster recovery is a lot easier if measures are in place – even if they prove partial. the census data back - up was not perfect but it was much better than nothing. reputational damage is lessened if measures exist yet are inadequate compared with the situation where the risks were unidentified and uncontrolled, i. e. mitigations were absent. for example, the acc privacy breaches were accentuated by a lack of privacy management. the payments failure – while it still occurred – would have been much worse without contingency measures in place. 3. being risk aware and risk prepared ( risk smart for short ) supports innovation, rather than impeding it, as many fear. in many cases, opportunity and risk are shadows of one another. both elements must be kept be in focus. when someone identifies an opportunity, we ask what risks exist, so that the gains will not be lost. when risks are raised, we ask what opportunity is there to move forward. 4. risk management is a whole of organisation task or responsibility. it needs to be demanded and modelled by executive management, owned and applied by business managers, and supported and monitored by a specialist risk management function. accountability for risks should be assigned but everyone is responsible for risk management. leadership is crucial in setting the risk / innovation tone and leading the organisational dialogue. an enterprise risk management framework helps instil widespread organisational ownership and builds a risk management culture. 5. risk management tends to atrophy if one is not careful. successful risk management tends to undermine its own apparent value. a higher risk appetite can be sustained and greater risks may be taken, or complacency can set in because risks have been successfully, but almost unknowingly, averted. it is important to develop the culture, disciplines, processes, and learning mechanisms that keep risk management fresh, e. g. quasi - incidents can be useful reminder