It’s not just the isolation. Working from home has surprising downsides
Stress, troubled sleep and interrupted family time are some of the little-known downsides from working from home. Read More
Editors’ Picks
Empowering our senior public servants with political skills
Could political skills re-empower the public service to deliver on efficient, effective and ethical government? What’s at stake is the very belief that the public service can add value, writes former state premier Geoff Gallop. Read More
Can markets do the job of regulators?
There are four common types of market failures that support a call for regulatory intervention. Three of these were identifiable during the Banking Royal Commission, writes law school head and regulation expert Dr Benedict Sheehy. Read More
Home Affairs secretary fears cyber doom; critics say he made it more likely
Viewed through the prism of military analogy, as is favoured by Home Affairs boss Michael Pezzullo, the growing cyber threats is a war with no established doctrine. Is cyber martial law the answer? Read More
Engaging Victoria – can a platform increase government legitimacy?
Key points: People need to understand what influence they have over the policymaking process The Victorian government are taking citizen engagement to a… Read More
Protecting our digital heritage in the age of cyber threats
Digital identity assets, such as property records and Parliamentary proceedings, embody who and what Australia is as a nation. We need to do more to protect them. Read More
Making Australia a renewable energy exporting superpower
An energy transmission network between Australia and Indonesia could help both nations achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2050. Read More
‘Missing-in-action’ senior officials need to take a long walk in the hall of mirrors
Two in five APS employees wonder what their senior officials are contributing to the agency’s work. These 'missing-in-action' executives might want to update their New Year's resolutions, writes Verona Burgess. Read More
Citizens’ chambers: towards an activism of selection by lot
Sortition would address the yawning deliberative deficit and weaken many of the pathways by which polarisation, cronyism and party influence occurs, says Nicholas Gruen. In a recent paper, James Fishkin identifies some potential shortcomings of citizens' chambers which justify his own preference for ad hoc, and temporary citizens' panels. He makes some good points. His central concerns are that a citizens' chamber might: have insufficient technical expertise be susceptible to corruption and not maintain the high quality of deliberation achieved in the best ad hoc citizens’ juries. These are legitimate concerns. But they have a 'theoretical' ring to me. Read More
Why autonomous vehicles won’t reduce our dependence on cars in cities
The arrival of autonomous vehicles would ideally reduce the number of cars on our roads. But this is a pipedream without a robust public transport system and willingness to share. Read More
What does neuroscience say about being a better leader?
Cambridge neuroscientist Dr Hannah Critchlow recommends a few key tips for managers to improve the wellbeing of their staff -- and their own wellbeing too. Read More
How student protests breathed new life into Bangladeshi bureaucracy
The Bangladeshi youth’s disruption of a dysfunctional decades-old system is a milestone for good governance in the country, writes Zohra Akhter. Read More
Could social media emerge as a new critical infrastructure sector?
As social media accounts become part of the critical infrastructure that governs our day-to-day lives, there is a strong case that their use for official purposes be regulated by legislation. Read More
Ken Henry is wrong, and that has implications for public policy
Dr Ken Henry’s statement to the banking royal commission was misguided ‒ he needs to listen to modern business theory and learn from the mistakes of the past, says Darryl Carlton. Read More
Whatever happened to ‘evidence-based policymaking’?
Despite all the talk, the main obstacle to using evidence in policy development is not so much lack of (potential) supply as lack of demand. Read More