Latest Australian Federal Government news

Health groups urge government to cover climate change in National Preventive Health Strategy

Energy & Environment

More than 30 prominent health organisations have called on the federal government to address the health impacts of climate change in its National Preventive Health…

New training to help public servants and ministers’ offices work together

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

The Australian Public Service Commission is developing material to help public servants and ministerial offices work better together, in response to the findings of the…

Yes government debt is cheap, but that doesn’t mean it comes risk-free

By Tony Makin

Economy & Industry

To the extent that central banks continue to monetise public debt by buying government bonds ('printing money'), the future could be dark, with high consumer…

ASD’s decision to cancel official history contract to be probed at Senate estimates

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

The Australian Signals Directorate will be questioned over its decision to terminate a contract with prominent academic John Blaxland, the Australian National University professor who…

Governments should prioritise to stop their agenda from becoming cluttered, new research says

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

Spreading limited public service resources too thinly can lead to poorly developed policy, according to a new report from the Grattan Institute report. The research…

Opinion: governments must steer a middle course between doing good and political reality

By John Daley

Editors' Picks

A failure to prioritise has been identified as one reason for failings of the Rudd Government, the Abbott Government, and the Shorten Opposition. Trying to…

Will the UK really join the CPTPP free-trade bloc in Asia-Pacific?

By Michael Plouffe

Economy & Industry

For the British government, the trade agreement with Japan is merely a stepping stone to the more ambitious target of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive…

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Columnists

Remember the ‘rivers of gold’ days? Bet Treasury wishes it had some of that lovely money now

By Verona Burgess

Economy & Industry

It would be nice to think that the APS might be rewarded for doing a good job during the pandemic with no draconian cuts –…

Mandarin Talks: the decline of the US, the rise of China, and Australia’s role

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

What should a public servant do if their government demands things of them which go against the values of integrity and impartiality? The answer is…

Australia’s airport asylum procedures must be reformed, according to new research

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

The Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law paper has called for Australia’s airport asylum process to be reformed 'to ensure that those in need of…

New APS professional stream to lift data capability across workforce

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

'The data professional stream is grounded in a strategy to lift the data capability of the APS workforce, to generate deeper insights, inform evidence-based decisions…

Consultation on APS data sharing bill open

By Shannon Jenkins

Communications & Technology

The federal government has released a legislative package outlining its proposed data-sharing laws, in a bid to improve the delivery of public services.

Not ‘appropriate’ to compensate man who was detained for four years despite valid visa, Home Affairs says

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

The Department of Home Affairs has decided against advising a man on whether his four-year detention was unlawful and will not offer him redress, the…

Public servants need to be able to share data across departments, and even jurisdictions, says Gaetjens

By Shannon Jenkins

Communications & Technology

'The leading edge can be the bleeding edge sometimes', and so the APS would likely follow the lead of the rest of the country when…

New resource helps agencies know when to conduct privacy-impact assessments

By Shannon Jenkins

Federal

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has launched a new resource to help federal government agencies determine when they should conduct a privacy-impact…