Two weeks after the US election the world’s model liberal democracy still isn’t sure who its new leader is, and as a contested transition of power threatens the dawn of a new coronavirus response, US institutions–now tested–have seldom looked so vulnerable. This week, The Mandarin asks: what if it happens here? In reality, it already […]
As hope dawns on a renewed coronavirus response in the United States after the defeat of Donald Trump, special friend the United Kingdom is bracing for a dark-winter, entering its first-full week of a new nationwide COVID-19 lock down.
In a year of unprecedented calamity and tumult, it has been gratifying to see the Commonwealth public service deliver first class service to so many Australians through the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has tested our resolve like few other crises, with the Commonwealth leading the way in ensuring the public has been fully informed about the […]
During the first few months of 2020, a new virus was quickly and silently spreading across borders. We didn’t know it then, but we would soon be in the grips of a global pandemic. By the end of March, Australia had taken unprecedented steps and had shut its borders and was on lock-down. As with […]
Which is a less forgiving environment, the boardrooms of Macquarie Street or the hustings within Aussie pubs? Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate just found out. The embattled corporate executive resigned from her role leading the government-owned postie on Monday, cauterising weeks of embittered media fanfare over a 2018 decision to reward senior staff with […]
Should a federal integrity commission proceed without the ability to launch its own investigations into public servants and politicians, or hold any public hearings? That’s the question now being asked by accountability advocates after Attorney General Christian Porter released draft legislation for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) on Monday, three years since it was first […]
Australia will draw on cross-disiplinary expertise in a society-wide effort to deploy a vaccine for coronavirus next year.
As scandals circle the public service and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts business as usual, Senate Estimates has aired some tough questions.
Government websites have become more secure since 2018, but the devil is in the detail and Australia is still behind the eight ball.
A concerted effort to increase diversity across the most senior levels of Australian diplomacy is helping to shape COVID-19 recovery efforts through a gendered lens. The Mandarin explores what's next for DFAT's diversity strategy.
Public servants are returning to offices across the country, marking a second wholesale change in working within government this year.
The police have a public trust problem; COVID-19 has worsened perceptions, and in a recent ASPI forum, experts reflected on where to next.
A systems overhaul in consulting procurement will improve transparency and value for money across the Australian Public Service.
Resourcing constraints across key integrity agencies undermine accountability, threatening public trust and good governance, advocates argue.
Public servants are coming together to work out how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed Australia’s largest metropolis, and how governments can support more five million people who call the 12,300 square kilometre chunk of NSW home.
