Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has joined the University of Sydney where she will lecture and mentor students on “empathetic leadership”.

The university announced that Ms Ardern, 46, would take up the position this month.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the university said this was, however, not a full-time teaching job for Ms Ardern.

Ms Ardern moved to Sydney earlier this year with her husband Clarke Gayford and daughter, Neve. The family bought a property on the city’s northern beaches.

New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reacts at the Pacific Resilience Facility event during Pre-COP31 meetings in Nadi, Fiji, 7 October 2026 (Reuters)

Ms Ardern became New Zealand’s 40th prime minister in 2017, aged 37, and served until January 2023.

During her tenure , she led the country through the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, the deadly Whakaari/White Island volcanic eruption, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her handling of the pandemic won international recognition, although…