The Australian Bureau of Statistics' Chief Methodologist Dr Siu-Ming Tam steps down at the end of the week. He spoke to The Mandarin about dodgy statistics, the history of the ABS and the importance of fishing.
The Resilient Melbourne team looks for creative ways to create networks and tackle big problems that would otherwise fall through the cracks.
There’s been no shortage of attention on small business energy bills over the last 18 months, amid myriad complaints from local entrepreneurs about rising bill prices in recent years. Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor has previously described business energy bills as “unreasonable” and has this year made several promises to deliver relief.
The relationship between ministers and the Australian public service has transformed from a partnership to one more like “master-servant”, with the “master” including the minister’s staff, according to former senior bureaucrat Andrew Podger. Podger, who headed various federal departments and was public service commissioner, said this had come about through the “thickening” of the interaction
When the clock is ticking towards a publication deadline you need to ask yourself: is my department undertaking the most valuable effort it can in the time that is available?
Benjamin Teed is a senior policy analyst in Canada’s Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Here, he delves into the techniques for coming up with an A-grade mission statement that creates a repeatable, scalable process which lets public servants bring out the best, most visionary parts of our leaders, our stakeholders, and oneself. What’s your […]
As Australia and the First peoples contemplate treaty and constitutional recognition, there must an acceptance that there are two major players in this, the First Peoples and the Australian electorate. A facilitated dialogue, like a mini-public may have the best likelihood of people and ideas coming together in the search for the best outcome.
Victoria’s Special Minister of State and the Victorian Branch Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union jointly announced the Jobs and Skills Exchange (JSE) in July 2019. The origin and future direction of the VPS JSE are not as straightforward as would seem.
Annette Michaux and Nat Kendall-Taylor outline the five major strategies for moving forward on child protection that resulted from a major national research project involving more than 7600 Australians. They say that how safe our children are from abuse and neglect and whether we support them to develop in a healthy way is an important measure of how healthy our communities are.
Amid the ongoing search for the holy grail of “local” service-delivery design, one of the very few certainties is the APS is nowhere near ready to deploy digital regulation to social services. When it comes to people, good policy outcomes do not equate to the best relationship outcomes.
Early career advice for public servants: know thyself and thine own goals — and don't be distracted by important-sounding job titles — recommends former Victorian public servant Claire Bayford.
Be open about your ambitions (without being arrogant) and figure out what makes your superiors tick, a panel of young high achievers advise their colleagues.
Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter has released a draft package of religious freedom bills, including the much-anticipated Religious Discrimination Bill. These bills respond to earlier inquiries into the protection of religious freedom under Australian law. They implement some of the recommendations of the Expert Panel on Religious Freedom (known as the Ruddock review).
'The Fifth Risk' can tell us a great deal about the dangers to the professional nature of public sector work and alert us to warning signs here. This is an important book, not for the politics or the tabloid drama of the Trump administration’s comic stupidity, but for what it says about public administration.
THE BIG INTERVIEW by Martin Stewart-Weeks: An in-depth Q&A with a key player in the Australian public sector or political space. The series starts with the Sarah Pearson toolkit for influence and getting stuff done.
