During what passes for idle chatter during coffee and networking at a recent event, the throw-away comment, “I think values are a load of rubbish” got my attention. Because too often rubbish is what companies big and small peddle.
"Early intervention is a bit of a nirvana," says Amy Auster, deputy secretary economic at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. Hard, but the Victorian government is still trying. It has contracted for two social impact bonds — service partnerships delivered by external providers and funded by investors, where government will pay a profit if the provider is able to achieve certain agreed targets.
In the 1970s the ACT embarked on a radical reform of secondary education. More than 40 years on, the ACT college system is still going – a remarkably successful, resilient reform that has largely suited the ACT’s well-to-do and highly educated socio-economic demographics. But is it also fit for purpose for the next 40 years, not least in the 24/7/365 digitally networked world?
Governments don’t govern alone. The shared responsibilities of public sector governance fall broadly into two categories – performance and conformance – and a lot of them land on public servants. Discharging these solemn duties can be a challenge when time is of the essence and process becomes a dirty word. Public service leaders should expect […]
The CEO of Agriculture Victoria talks bee biosecurity, unexpected career turns and agency branding.
Business leaders mainly have themselves to blame if they feel governments don’t understand their perspectives or listen to their concerns, according to a group of high profile Australians and New Zealanders who generally need no introductions in the corridors of power. Are their problems in the relationship between governments and the private sector? […]
Public affairs teams can range from a single person to massive teams of people. Their work and experience in government is very different to most public servants. Bernard Keane and Jennine Khalik look into the world of political spinners.
As Atlassian releases its free tool to help other companies measure and improve their diversity metrics, head of diversity and belonging Aubrey Blanche has some tips on how to foster an inclusive culture, even for the earliest of early-stage startups.
The world is changing fast, and business-as-usual will not prepare us for all that lies ahead. By embedding agile innovation processes into our work, the NSW Department of Education is accelerating education reform to match the speed of progress.
Ravi Dutta-Powell describes the recent experiments conducted to improve customer understanding of and engagement with the universally dreaded Terms and Conditions of purchase agreements.
Museums have emerged as new and effective actors of cultural soft power, including outside the West in countries like China and Russia.
The biggest review of the Australian Public Service (APS) in 40 years is likely to herald significant changes, particularly for APS employees. As the APS is committed to progressing gender equality, we wondered: what might the review mean for women employees?
No organisation wants to lose talent because it couldn't provide the support and encouragement to foster successful re-entry after parental leave. The Victorian Public Sector is no exception and it's piloting an approach to ensure parents get their best opportunity to make their return to the office as smooth as possible.
The Australian Public Service has a fundamental role to play in helping bridge the trust divide between government and citizens. A deliberative jury has been established to scope the nature of the trust problem and examine what the APS could do to address the divide.
Senior executives typically want to see a lot of collaboration and communication going on in their offices, but knowledge workers often crave a bit of privacy, personal space, peace and quiet.
