Chris Eccles: what will the public sector look like in ten years? Editors' Picks SPEECH: Victoria's top public servant finds lessons for the future in one of our greatest public policy achievements. Success starts with a moral purpose…
'Name blind' recruiting to undo unconscious bias in Victoria Friday May 20, 2016 By David Donaldson Career Advice A Victorian pilot program will scrub job applications of name and gender to combat unconscious bias. Two key departments, DPC and DTF, Victoria Police and…
Another hidden bias in leadership selection (especially for women) Friday May 13, 2016 By Katherine Street Career Advice The public sector needs to stop expecting leaders to be technical experts and start expecting them to be leadership experts. The bias is particularly damaging…
Nicholas Gruen: why Australia needs an evaluator-general Monday May 9, 2016 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks PART TWO: Make evaluation a formal function of a new office, akin to the auditor-general, argues economist Nicholas Gruen. It furthers the principles of…
Why we accept travesties of ‘evidence-based’ policymaking Monday May 9, 2016 By Nicholas Gruen Editors' Picks Evidence-based policy ... if everyone claims to want it, and practice it, why do so many 'announceables' get glowing report cards without the slightest tinkering?…
Are government behavioural insights trials ethical? Thursday May 5, 2016 By David Donaldson Editors' Picks Simply rolling out an untested idea often has fewer roadblocks than researching whether it works, but that doesn't make it ethical. Behavioural insights experts in…
Chris Eccles: getting buy-in for family violence 'moral duty' Friday April 29, 2016 By Chris Eccles Editors' Picks SPEECH: There's a "moral duty" to reform public services to tackle family violence, Victoria's top bureaucrat says. Government needs buy-in from a range of…
No more ‘job for life’: radical workforce reform for modern APS Thursday April 28, 2016 By Harley Dennett Career Advice The APS will rapidly find itself not fit for purpose if it doesn't modernise workforce practices, a new review says. Mandarins have committed to adopt…
Turnbull: 'look to other jurisdictions' and plagiarise the best ideas Wednesday April 20, 2016 By Stephen Easton Editors' Picks The Prime Minister wants public servants to swallow their pride and seek best practice wherever it is found ... even from Wellington. We must be…
'Adviserous horribilis': MP unloads on political staffers Friday April 15, 2016 By David Donaldson Editors' Picks Fat, lazy Arts dropouts ... advisers — or "snouts" — have spread like myxomatosis, says bureaucrat-turned-MP David Speirs. Beyond the hyperbole, he tells The Mandarin…
Ben Rimmer: leadership is still the bureaucracy's Achilles' heel Thursday April 7, 2016 By David Donaldson Community & Social INTERVIEW: The public sector lags business in executive leadership, with too many secretaries persevering with a dictator model. Ben Rimmer tells The Mandarin that's…
Promoted A 9900% rate of return? The value of plain English to government Wednesday April 6, 2016 By Dr Neil James Editors' Picks There's an enormous economic return in making government communication — internally and externally — easier to read. And while documents drive government it can help…
Promoted How to really shake up innovation: ask the crowd, let them fail Wednesday March 30, 2016 By The Mandarin Case studies CASE STUDY: Engaging staff is the key to real innovation in government. A unique crowdsourcing project conducted by a Victorian department is an example…
'Stop asking permission': advice from the red tape war cabinet Thursday March 24, 2016 By Stephen Easton Career Advice Public servants need to change the culture of asking permission for every little thing, says the Department of Finance executive trying to strip out internal…
‘CEO of the Year’ sacked by DHA board in Finance power play Wednesday March 23, 2016 By Harley Dennett Career Advice The Department of Finance should be stripped as shareholder of one of the government's most profitable enterprises, a Senate committee hears, in astonishing scenes pitting…
