New secretaries for Infrastructure and Environment departments Friday November 8, 2019 By Shannon Jenkins News Two new secretaries have been appointed to lead the Australian Public Service. David Fredericks has been appointed to lead the Department of the Environment and… Read more
Progress at last: Environment department begins to update non-compliant FOI log after 10 months Monday October 21, 2019 By Stephen Easton Energy & Environment The Department of the Environment and Energy has added the first new entries to its freedom-of-information disclosure log since December, 2018, shortly after The Mandarin reported… Read more
The Department of the Environment and Energy has been breaching the FOI Act for 10 months now Wednesday October 16, 2019 By Stephen Easton Communications & Technology The Department of the Environment and Energy has been in breach of the Freedom of Information Act for almost 10 months. That's how long it's… Read more
PM asks APS to publish gift registers: News Corp achieves what the auditor-general could not Tuesday September 3, 2019 By Stephen Easton Communications & Technology Prime Minister Scott Morrison has decided Australian Public Service agencies should publish their lists of gifts and benefits. Read more
Energy minister rejects audit findings and 'will not apologise' for publicly funded ads Tuesday August 27, 2019 By Shannon Jenkins Energy & Environment Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor has told Auditor-General Grant Hehir that he's not sorry for "empowering Australians" through tax-payer funded advertising. Read more
Well, allow me to retort: angry academics line up to defend Murray-Darling Basin Plan Friday July 19, 2019 By Stephen Easton Australian Capital Territory A group of around 20 senior academics and scientists with relevant expertise have declared strong faith in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and accused the ABC's… Read more
How about speaking normally? Jane Halton and Gordon de Brouwer on institutional trust Tuesday July 2, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal For institutions that need to rebuild public trust, “starting to speak normally" instead of in stiff bureaucratic language is a necessary step on the journey,… Read more
Public servants hastily polish up the blue books as new Morrison ministry takes shape Wednesday May 22, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal A who's-who of the members in contention for Coalition ministerial positions in the days after the 2019 federal election. Read more
Former secretary: 'persuasion and trust' the keys to 'complex' role of leading a department Friday May 10, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal The most useful tools for senior public servants are “persuasion and trust” in the view of former Commonwealth secretary Gordon de Brouwer, who sits on… Read more
Which agencies got a break from Senate estimates hearings? Thursday April 11, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal Labor is crying foul over their missed opportunities to quiz public servants after Senate estimates was cut short by the beginning of the election campaign… Read more
APS Review draft: everyone's heard it all before, implementation is the challenge Thursday March 21, 2019 By Stephen Easton Features David Thodey says that implementing lasting reform for the APS would be challenged by the requirement for both realism and and optimism. As always, reform… Read more
Handling the 'pariah' policy of climate change Wednesday March 13, 2019 By Verona Burgess Energy & Environment Many agencies integrate disaster and climate “resilience” into their policies, programs and asset management. But that doesn’t mean Australia is any closer to deciding on… Read more
Watch: three Commonwealth secretaries discuss natural resource management Wednesday April 12, 2017 By The Mandarin Energy & Environment Video: three Commonwealth secretaries discuss the economic, environmental and social implications of interlocking federal policies that relate to natural resource management. Read more
Verona Burgess: powerful friends matter in Australia's energy bureaucracy Wednesday March 22, 2017 By Verona Burgess Energy & Environment From little things, big things grow — sometimes. Take ARENA, a micro-agency on the verge of extinction under Tony Abbott, now plugged right into the… Read more
Promoted GovCMS: Building collaborative communities around functionality Wednesday December 7, 2016 By The Mandarin Energy & Environment Jurisdiction need not be a barrier to collaboration when organisations can build on each other's work. Read more
