Could political skills re-empower the public service to deliver on efficient, effective and ethical government? What’s at stake is the very belief that the public service can add value, writes former state premier Geoff Gallop. Read More
There are four common types of market failures that support a call for regulatory intervention. Three of these were identifiable during the Banking Royal Commission, writes law school head and regulation expert Dr Benedict Sheehy. Read More
Innovation districts are the “new geography of innovation”, says Ben Rimmer in his final week as CEO of City of Melbourne. He discusses the central role the knowledge economy will play in the city's future prosperity and the economic value of Melbourne's liveability. Read More
Sortition would address the yawning deliberative deficit and weaken many of the pathways by which polarisation, cronyism and party influence occurs, says Nicholas Gruen. In a recent paper, James Fishkin identifies some potential shortcomings of citizens' chambers which justify his own preference for ad hoc, and temporary citizens' panels. He makes some good points. His central concerns are that a citizens' chamber might: have insufficient technical expertise be susceptible to corruption and not maintain the high quality of deliberation achieved in the best ad hoc citizens’ juries. These are legitimate concerns. But they have a 'theoretical' ring to me. Read More
As social media accounts become part of the critical infrastructure that governs our day-to-day lives, there is a strong case that their use for official purposes be regulated by legislation. Read More
Despite all the talk, the main obstacle to using evidence in policy development is not so much lack of (potential) supply as lack of demand. Read More
The DTA's role is to create a platform for digital transformation, not to promote individual projects. The projects belong to individual departments and agencies, argues Darryl Carlton. Read More
APS review panel member and Coca-Cola Amatil Australia chief Alison Watkins reveals her observations of the public service and dwells on the role of business in contributing to the reform debate. Read More
An evaluator-general should lead a renewed focus on understanding the impact of government programs, independent of their delivery and insulated from the demand for appropriate 'messaging' in other parts of the system. It could lead the way beyond bureaucratic fads to a new professionalism, writes Nicholas Gruen. Read More
We won’t necessarily know beforehand where or when the next crisis will start. But if trouble arises, Australia’s experience demonstrates the old toolkit of responses still works. Read More
Chris Eccles says the public service has defined itself by both moral purpose and big ideas for many decades. It’s just that the moral dimension has never been expressly articulated. Read More
In recent decades, many governments around the world have embraced a service delivery mindset inspired by management practices from the private sector. But now a different mindset is emerging, driven by younger generations who don't want to be customers. Read More
Intervention by different governments in Australia’s National Electricity Market is becoming common, but without a coherent, national approach we risk reduced reliability, higher prices and missed targets. Read More
The APS Review has been considering what role evaluation of public programs will have in its findings. Australia’s leading evaluator-general proponent, Dr Nicholas Gruen, on the design and implementation issues that will need to be addressed. Read More
While the Australian Public Service Review panel works on a list of public recommendations to flesh out its five-point “vision” for the high-performance bureaucracy of… Read More
