About the author Editor Harley Dennett is editor at The Mandarin based in Canberra. He's held communications roles in the New South Wales public sector and Defence, and been a staff reporter for newspapers in Sydney and Washington DC. Follow Harley Dennett
Defence goes back to basics as it prepares for the multipolar world Monday July 31, 2017 By Harley Dennett Case studies By appointing a relative young-gun to run the Department of Defence, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has bucked a 40-year trend and offers an opportunity to… Read more
COAG performance dashboard goes live Friday June 9, 2017 By Harley Dennett News As Australia's leaders meet today, PM&C has released the new performance dashboard for COAG commitments. Now anyone can easily see how state and territories are… Read more
Open govt vacancy process to lead by example and publish all nominees Thursday June 8, 2017 By Harley Dennett News Nominations are now being sought from individuals to fill up to eight civil society positions on Australia's first Open Government Forum. Read more
Would-be terrorists on parole leap to top of COAG agenda Tuesday June 6, 2017 By Harley Dennett News Frustrated that state justice and law enforcement are not adequately dealing with the threat of would-be terrorists, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pushed the issue… Read more
Indigenous policy evidence, where it exists, over-relies on anecdotal evidence Monday June 5, 2017 By Harley Dennett Community & Social What can government organisations do to promote better evaluation of Indigenous policies and programs? A new report says a co-accountability approach with learning tools work… Read more
Combating misinformation with Number 10's Alex Aiken Wednesday May 31, 2017 By Harley Dennett Features No, it's not propaganda, and yes, it is a critical government profession that enhances and saves lives. Britain's top government communicator has a message for… Read more
Underperformers get golden handshakes as managers shirk difficult conversations Wednesday May 24, 2017 By Harley Dennett News Most watchers of government might have suspected that restructures and redundancies were used to quietly get rid of the worst performers. Some have seen it… Read more
Estimates latest: Labor targets officials for attending 'political' events Tuesday May 23, 2017 By Harley Dennett News An early theme of Federal Labor senators' questions, across portfolios, has been public servants and statutory officers attending events organised by ministers and government MPs. Read more
Better analytics, better policy: first spend initiatives from APS Modernisation Fund Tuesday May 9, 2017 By Harley Dennett Editors' Picks The 2017-18 Budget will fund a new body, the Data Integration Partnership of Australia, more shared services, and enhanced capability in user experience, nudge, and… Read more
PM&C taskforce to consider Harris’s data reforms Tuesday May 9, 2017 By Harley Dennett Economy & Industry The Productivity Commission chair stresses the need for political and agency leadership to build and maintain the social licence needed for comprehensive data use reform. Read more
Top local government projects recognised for innovative service delivery Monday May 1, 2017 By Harley Dennett News Innovative communities got the nod today with the reveal of 10 councils who made the shortlist for the top prize in local government innovation: the… Read more
Contractor Central rescuing NSW from temp worker cost overload Thursday April 27, 2017 By Harley Dennett News New South Wales has doubled its temp workers under the Coalition — and couldn't justify value for the extra $600m cost. Also, Margaret Crawford has… Read more
Kibblewhite: stewardship challenges for today's public service leaders Wednesday April 26, 2017 By Harley Dennett Features New Zealand's head of policy profession shared his perspective on balancing the preservation of institutions of state with the needs of ministers, staying on the… Read more
The top contenders to replace Dennis Richardson at Defence department Friday April 21, 2017 By Harley Dennett Defence Who will replace Dennis Richardson as secretary of the Department of Defence? There's a lot of contenders being discussed and some earlier aspirants dropped out… Read more
Dennis Richardson formally bows out; Sargeant steps into top Defence APS role Wednesday April 19, 2017 By Harley Dennett Defence The least surprising retirement of a top mandarin so far this year has been made official. Dennis Richardson will step down as secretary of the… Read more
