Making government services contestable presents a number of strategic challenges for the public sector. It represents a significant change to the way government currently operates and will have far reaching impacts on each department’s focus, operations, capabilities and culture. The challenges range from understanding what contestability means through to successfully…
Government employees make more than 4000 serious workers compensation claims each year in Australia, with stress and bullying claims skyrocketing. The trend continues despite decades of occupational health and safety training — which might as well rate as the most rote activity public servants perform — and mandatory safety questions in many agencies’ appointment…
Employing randomised trials to drive policymaking is gaining traction overseas. Labor’s Andrew Leigh makes the case for Australia — and calls for more innovation in the public sector. Governments should use more randomised trials in policy development, according to federal Labor frontbencher and former economics professor Andrew Leigh. Randomised trials…
I’m not at all surprised about the recent news that public servants taking redundancies are being short-changed — with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet having to repay dozens of its former staffers after mistakes by payroll officers left one worker $17,000 short. The vast majority of public sector redundancy payments…
The ACT government has used detailed passenger data to redesign its ACTION bus network for the first time. And while not all passengers are happy, peak hour is running more smoothly. The system’s “MyWay” smart cards, introduced in 2011, provided a wealth of user behaviour to measure. This information was…
Over the 45 days it burned, the Hazelwood mine fire blanketed neighbouring Morwell with smoke and ash. The effects on the health of nearby residents are likely to be felt for decades to come. The response to this crisis was led by the Victorian Department of Health, which worked with…
The Mandarin hosted an impromptu debate on innovation in the public sector at our official launch in Canberra last night. Is it bureaucrats or ministers who are risk averse? Public servants must speak truth to power, former Sydney lord mayor Lucy Turnbull urged at a launch for this esteemed publication…
If you look at the website that we’re launching tonight, there’s a page on it called The Crane. It’s a reference to Chinese imperial bureaucracy — where your public service rank was shown by a large material badge with a bird on it. Your bird changed depending on your rank.…
Early consultation for the Defence Force white paper is shaping up to be the real festival of dangerous ideas. Offensive cyber warfare, better paid public servants, CSIRO funding, foreign medical specialists and other ideas likely to be unpopular with the government have been floated to play a role defending the…
The Queensland government is running an online poll to ask whether Queenslanders would prefer lower public transport fares or more frequent services. But there are concerns about the potential unreliability of any results. Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson says the changes will be paid for with savings resulting from the abolition…
During my five years as director-general of Security, I have occasionally emerged from the shadows to talk on three specific subjects: the threats from terrorism and cyber-attacks and the Australian experience of managing a secret security intelligence service in a democracy under the rule of law. In recent months I…
The Department of Communications has shed about a quarter of its workforce as part of a major restructure. But only 11 were forced redundancies — a better result for all concerned than was expected earlier this year. The department announced in February it had redesigned the jobs of its 550…
Whether it’s personalising information or bridging geographic divides, the internet is broadening the possibilities for health service delivery. But it’s important to remain focused on the goal and not get caught up in technology for its own sake. There are already a range of websites and apps available that appear to…
The Mandarin Code A pair of white pillars embossed with the numerals “25” frame a steep driveway, the only markers to inform guests they’ve arrived at the Commonwealth Club. Set on a gentle slope overlooking Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, the club is a reminder of an earlier age when the…
The Tasmanian budget, handed down on Thursday, provides an opportunity for a discussion about the future direction the Tasmanian government intends to set for the state — over this electoral term and beyond. While budget statements and the associated analysis will be focused on the budget bottom line, the numbers are…
