Verona Burgess: powerful friends matter in Australia’s energy bureaucracy by Verona Burgess | 1 comment From little things, big things grow — sometimes. Take ARENA, a micro-agency on the verge of extinction under Tony Abbott, now plugged right into the federal power grid that matters -- and the potential saviour of Malcolm Turnbull's agenda.
Beyond individual merit: reimagining the mandarins of the future by Stephen Easton | 0 comments The individual merit principle has produced public service leaders that look and talk the same, think alike and mix in the same circles. Heads of service are hatching plans to overturn decades of affiliation bias.
Unsolicited proposals: NSW on the right track a decade after AWH by Harley Dennett | 0 comments Wracked by a highly public ICAC investigation that became a byword for unscrupulous lobbying in NSW, DPC set out to build a new unsolicited proposals framework. The Audit Office has given it the thumbs up.
Events in February: UK cabinet lessons, WA policy talk, women and leadership by The Mandarin | 0 comments There's never much on in January but February offers a range of interesting events for people with an interest in the public sector including guests from the UK and CEDA's new women in leadership series.
Public sector leaders throwing open the doors by Harley Dennett | 0 comments PM&C boss Michael Thawley really has a problem with locked doors in public administration. He's not alone, with state leaders also wanting change.
‘I walk in with ten more facts than the minister, and I survive’ by David Donaldson | 1 comment Ministers tend to see departmental heads as their principal advisers — but there's a whole lot more to it than that, argued Finance's Jane Halton and NSW DPC's Blair Comley at the ANZSOG conference. Finding the right skills and leadership style is challenging, and ministers don't always help.
Challenge of our era: transparency, engagement and keeping public trust by The Mandarin | 0 comments Senior public servants, academics and corporate experts from Australia and New Zealand will come together next week to tackle what has been learnt and what remains unsolved as technological advances change the government-citizen/client relationship. ANZSOG's John Wanna opens debate with a new research paper.
