The Victorian government's central data unit is improving capability in everything from budgeting to tracking diseases. Solutions don't need to be complicated, says head of analytics Brad Petry — but make sure you plan for implementation from the start.

When you study ‘policy’ in Australia, you are taught the ‘Public Policy Cycle’, which presents a linear method that doesn’t quite reflect the reality of working in public policy, and throughout public sectors we have lost a common language for what we mean.

The Australian National Audit Office’s annual work program gives departments and agencies the chance to fix problems before the auditors arrive. Not everyone takes the hint.

The processes of making decisions might seem perfectly sane and sensible when you’re inside government, but when you’re outside government on the receiving end of them, they look insane and very slow, says Fran Thorn. Show a lot of empathy, put yourself in the place of the people who are delivering services, and stop thinking, 'why don’t they see the worth of this and get on and do it?' 

It’s a classic tale of villains, victims, and heroes. Greedy bankers, brainwashed salespeople, exploited innocents, and a brave few who broke away to flip the Monopoly board off the table. Banking Bad is the eloquently relayed story of Adele Ferguson’s work to expose systematic malfeasance and moral and legal corruption within Australia’s banks and insurers, which resulted directly in the Hayne Royal Commission.

Arguably, it’s not the job of a citizen to understand the complexities of government, but rather the job of government is to do the hard work to abstract the complexities of governance for better engagement and services for citizens. If you’re not collaborating and working across governments in whatever you are doing, then you’re not likely getting the best possible outcomes for citizens in the most efficient way.

Teams all over the world, including in Australia, are already experimenting with coding prescriptive rules in legislation, regulation and policy. Beyond just ‘regtech’, the approach of coding the rules on which our society runs promises better results and new opportunities for the public as well as regulators and companies looking to make compliance easier.

Following 'Shergie's farewell tour' last year, Peter Shergold gave his final performance as outgoing IPAA National president at the association's conference in Darwin last week. He reflected on the public service's ability to moderate the damaging impulses of politicians and the importance of non-partisan actors in democratic government.

All Australian governments come to office with a deep admiration for the Oz military and some apprehension about the Department of Defence. The Defence Department, though, is a big beast that doesn’t become more lovable by close association.

Former government employees with defence-related skills will end up working in defence-related industries, and that's been a concern to some in the Australian community about the questions it raises about what leads up to the job offers. The Department of Defence has been refining its approach to this perceived conflict of interest.

There has been growing attention to the declining levels of public trust in our politicians, public, and democratic institutions. Our analysis suggests that history will not record any sizeable shift in public trust due to the Turnbull or Morrison governments’ record on social policy.

Despite its long and storied history, sex work is still poorly regulated and highly stigmatized. In many places it is illegal, and sex workers have few protections from violence and other dangers. Also, in the absence of spent convictions laws, historical offences can trap people in this field of work. After thirteen attempts and decades […]

Professor Mick Dodson, the first-ever Northern Territory Treaty Commissioner, delivered the Garran Oration at the IPAA National Conference, held in Darwin on 26 September 2019. Here is a transcript of his oration.

The relationship between design and the public good is studied through two very different lenses. Learn what they are and how they can help or hinder you in Design for Public Sector Leaders on October 10 at the Melbourne offices of CPA Australia.

Allan Hawke is aware of the argument that performance pay is supposed to work in organisations where rewards constitute a significant part of total remuneration, judgments about performance are based on things under the direct control of the individual being assessed, and people are satisfied that the assessments and mechanisms used are fair and reasonable. And, he's 'absolutely certain' none of those preconditions can be assured of in the APS.