The boss of Australia's most contentious Commonwealth agency, Immigration and Border Protection, has made a rare public statement defending his department and staff against accusations of cruelty and illegal acts. Read More
The DIBP secretary raised eyebrows defending the Commonwealth's detention policy. But what if actually implementing it is a crime? A former prosecuting solicitor lays out a case for saying no to the minister. Read More
OPINION: A former Canberra SES gives a stinging assessment of a "toxic mix of incompetence and politicisation" in the federal public service. Is it right, and do the positive signs reflect a turnaround? Read More
Four division heads are needed for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, while two band 3 senior executive roles are open elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy. Read More
The slow, incremental digital services revolution in the federal government is so important that one department has dedicated a new division to it. Read More
Coming soon: online interfaces that work better for citizens. The Digital Transformation Office is working on six projects at the start of a big year in digital delivery. Read More
NSW led the world when it fully decriminalised sex work. Now there's a push towards cross-agency and cross jurisdictional collaboration, bringing police back in the fold, and regulation where currently there is none. Read More
Public service leaders are increasingly enamoured with what big data can do. They need to build the capability, but also avoid putting the public at risk, the IPAA national conference heard. Read More
A new union campaign — "Proud to be Public" — was teased at the CPSU's national dinner in Canberra on Thursday. But minor changes to the Commonwealth's bargaining framework hasn't moved union bosses, who see victory within their grasp. Read More
In her address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, the senator says its still hard to advance in this country if you "have a funny name", and talked about her decision to not change her own name to better fit in. Read More
The federal government's Digital Transformation Office has outlined its first work program, promising to have working services up and running within the next 20 weeks. Read More
If the federal government is serious about embracing multiculturalism, it will need to codify expectations for agencies serving multicultural communities. City of Monash councillor Jieh-Yung Lo argues for greater accountability before another Operation Fortitude occurs. Read More
Former Immigration department deputy secretary, and now Crawford School visiting fellow, Peter Hughes has written an opinion piece for John Menadue’s blog about the one-off Syrian crisis response of an… Read More
Acting information commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has a message for government's chief executives and lawyers looking to cut corners with Australians' privacy and information rights. Don't think you can "game the system" because of OAIC's uncertain future. It has a mandate, powers, and an appetite to use them. Read More
All agencies are struggling to learn how to be relevant in the modern media world. Learning from the inevitable mistakes is critical if government is to be an authentic participant in a complex and disorganised world, writes Tom Burton. Read More
