The pressure on public sector leaders to adapt rapidly to challenges of managing a far more diverse and distributed workforce is greater than ever. Now agency heads from across Australia heads are coming together to thrash out what cuts it and what doesn't in a swiftly modernising government. Read More
'After enlightenment, the laundry' is one ex-secretary's career advice. Adam Fennessy gives his tips for dealing with ministers and making yourself heard in a bureaucracy -- plus why he left the public service. Read More
DELWP secretary Adam Fennessy will head to the private sector next month. Deputy secretary Christine Wyatt will act in the role until a replacement is found. Read More
Conscious effort and willingness to recruit from varied professional backgrounds have put a lot more women on Victoria’s water boards — even in far-flung rural areas. Diversity requires looking beyond the usual suspects. Read More
Encouraging staff to post selfies of how they use their flextime — picking up the kids from school, walking the dog, coaching a footy team — is a useful way to demonstrate the benefits of increasing workplace flexibility. Senior staff participation in particular lends legitimacy. Read More
Even today, a significant number of employees in our public sector workplaces will be impacted by domestic and family violence. I encourage you to join in the conversation during this 16 Days of Activism and change this story. Read More
Secretaries weigh in: bureaucrats have to be more visible. In a world rife with spin, public service leaders are increasingly seeing the value in providing a disinterested perspective on the work of government to a distrustful public. Read More
What's it like to discover your colleagues may have been involved in corruption? Senior public servants speak about Victoria's "wake up call" proving it's not superior to NSW after all. Departments act to tackle bad behaviour. Read More
Some are worried putting the Environment and Energy portfolios together under a Liberal minister is setting the cat among the pigeons. But there's a good case for merging the portfolios — and recent precedent in Victoria. Read More
Legacy systems and specific needs hold back the standardisation and centralisation of government corporate services — but departments should be looking at using more shared services in the future, thinks Adam Fennessy. Read More
CASE STUDY: Engaging staff is the key to real innovation in government. A unique crowdsourcing project conducted by a Victorian department is an example in creating a playing field where it's safe to fail. Read More
PART TWO: Admitting mistakes and better consulting not only leads to happier citizens but better outcomes, DELWP secretary Adam Fennessy tells The Mandarin. Plus why super departments need better collaboration. Read More
The secretary of Victoria's DELWP talks to The Mandarin about disruption, rolling out flexible working across the VPS, and how his path to becoming a departmental secretary confused his male colleagues. Read More
Scrutiny of Victoria's post-election machinery of government changes offers a peek into the thinking of departmental secretaries and the reasoning behind the changes. Read More
