Federal Budget 2018: digital government
The federal government plans to spend about $600 million on a suite of diverse initiatives labelled as “delivering Australia’s digital future” in this year’s budget,… Read More
budget
Federal Budget 2018: improved care choices as Australians living longer
Ageing is a growing challenge for government, and this year's federal budget includes new spending to help older Australians remain healthier and enjoy increased choice about care. Read More
Federal Budget 2018: tax cuts and slow spending growth
Tight spending controls and windfall of tax revenue has enabled the federal government to fund modest medium-term tax cuts, while continuing to invest heavily in infrastructure, health, and research. Read More
Federal Budget 2018: top-ups for the central agencies, few ‘efficiencies’ left to find
Like last year’s federal budget, the plan for 2018-19 involves re-purposing a range of “efficiencies” found in some parts of the public sector, investing in… Read More
Vic Budget 2018: more money to move public servants out of Melbourne
Today's Victorian Budget will include an extra $16 million for a "GovHub" office in downtown Bendigo where about 1000 public servants from the state and local governments will eventually work. Read More
Cost of federal tech projects revealed
Several agencies have broken down the budgets of current tech projects for the Senate's Finance and Public Administration Committee in answers to advance questions on notice attached to its digital service delivery inquiry. Read More
‘We took it too far’: WA premier applauded for reversing education cuts
The Western Australian government has reconsidered some of its cost-cutting measures in the education portfolio in response to a passionate outcry, and been applauded for doing so. Read More
WA budget confirms state’s bureaucracy transformation is still one to watch
The state's dire budget and debt situation will have a deep impact on the bureaucracy's centre, but it comes at a time of significant reinvestment in transformation. Read More
Cut-through messaging: SA Budget newspaper worth the opprobrium?
Putting marketing materials in the form of a newspaper is not a new idea, but it is always controversial when government does it. Read More
NSW Budget: Infrastructure everywhere to absorb cash deluge
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet's first budget is almost drowning in cash. It hasn't stopped the fiscal conservative from jacking-up the efficiency dividend. Read More
Hurry means worry for the NDIS, warns Productivity Commission
The NDIS budget is not in danger of a big blowout but the rollout might need to slow down. The National Disability Insurance Agency is taking steps to fix problems with the support planning process but the Productivity Commission isn't sure it can stick to the schedule at the same time. Read More
Open invite: anyone can grill NT public servants after Estimates boycott
A group of independent and opposition MLAs refuse to turn up at the NT government's Budget Estimates hearings in protest at the allotted time being halved, so the government has opened the floor to anyone else. The result: a mountain of extra work for public servants. Read More
Budget honesty should mean incorporating distributional analysis
There’s an old saying: never cross a river because it is four feet deep on average. Similarly, a budget described only in averages or totals can hide staggering inequality. Read More
Innovation – it’s about the economy
In a world of increasingly blurry markets, ‘fixing the budget’ is not the one and only issue of economic policy, write Professor Vishaal Kishore and Dr Pradeep Philip. Read More
Confusion in Centrelink about removal of six-year expiry date on debts
Before January 1, Centrelink debts expired if the agency ignored them for six years. Now it can pursue them at any time like the Tax Office, but within the agency there is confusion about the implications. Read More