Department of Veterans' Affairs | Departments/Agencies

Mobile shopfronts now serving veterans

By The Mandarin

Federal

The Department of Veterans' Affairs has hitched its wagon to the trucks that take Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support services on the road for those…

Senior Defence leaders launch Indigenous reconciliation plan

By Shannon Jenkins

Culture

Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel Darren Chester has released a new reconciliation action plan to build relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities…

Vale Kerry Kennedy, a gently spoken champion of excellence in public administration

By Carmel McGregor

Features

Kerry Kennedy — who died recently in Canberra aged 69 — was a quiet champion of excellence in public administration, a committed family man and…

How a WA department's graduate program came out on top of the nation

By Stephen Easton

Federal

Australia's best public sector grad programs, indexed. Public sector agencies generally don’t do enough to explain what working in a government department is really like…

Movers & shakers: new year brings new challenges for three public service leaders

By The Mandarin

Career Matters

Infrastructure Australia finds a new chief executive, a well-known public servant takes charge of technology at Veterans' Affairs, and New Zealand's latest Foreign Affairs and…

The first new edition of the Commonwealth Style manual since 2002 is in the works

By Stephen Easton

Communications & Technology

The Commonwealth is getting its first new style guide since 2002, courtesy of the Digital Transformation Agency, but not until the end of 2019. Also,…

Fairer and less Kafkaesque: Elizabeth Cosson takes command of DVA's five-year plan

By Stephen Easton

Defence

The new secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Elizabeth Cosson, has spent some of her first few months in the job putting out fires…

How government agencies have focused on Indigenous women for NAIDOC Week

By The Mandarin

News

It's an uncomfortable fact that NAIDOC, which promotes the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures, has rarely made the cut for…

Political turbulence: tips for the enduring public servant

By Harley Dennett

Editors' Picks

Simon Lewis, the departing Commonwealth secretary who had six ministers in five years, says don't blame ministerial staffers for not knowing their role.

Elizabeth Cosson appointed DVA secretary, Turnbull announces gender parity at the top

By Stephen Easton

News

The secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, Simon Lewis, has handed in his resignation and Elizabeth Cosson has been chosen to step into the…

Ethics in program evaluation

By Stephen Easton

Features

Ethics, as it applies to any research involving humans, cannot be ignored by public servants running policy and program evaluations. But if the slow process…

Timothy Pilgrim: OAIC has a mandate, powers, and is not afraid to use them

By The Mandarin

Features

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…

APS union campaign escalates, but does it have the firepower to win?

By Stephen Easton

Features

Do federal bureaucrats have the industrial firepower to force the Abbott government to soften its strict enterprise bargaining policy? Whether the measures workers can take…

Doctor's orders: agencies asked to 'keep it simple'

By Harley Dennett

News

Standard Business Reporting cut red tape for businesses, now medical practitioners are asking benefits agencies to offer the same in their medical forms. The time…

Union members at Veterans' Affairs vote to join industrial fray

By Stephen Easton

News

Union members at the Department of Veterans' Affairs have voted resoundingly to take industrial action rather than accept the best deal their bosses are allowed…