Productivity Commission finds areas for improvement in higher ed policy Education The expansion in university places had advantages over previous policies that “severely rationed access”, but "results were mixed", says a new report from the Productivity… Read more
What 'common pay' really means and other things we learned questioning David Thodey Thursday March 21, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal One of the more interesting ideas that emerged from the Australian Public Service Review this week was a move towards “common pay”, but as excitement… Read more
International Women's Day: Marise Payne says female leaders make the world more peaceful Thursday March 7, 2019 By The Mandarin Australian Capital Territory For International Women’s Day, Senator Marise Payne spoke to a packed Great Hall at Parliament House this week on women in public sector leadership, drawing… Read more
Balanced boards: Tasmania catching up to gender parity Tuesday November 20, 2018 By Stephen Easton News When it comes to reversing male dominance in public sector leadership roles, governments are choosing to start outside their own departments. Tasmania is the latest… Read more
New gender equity targets encourage federal agencies to brief lady lawyers Monday July 2, 2018 By Stephen Easton Federal New gender equality targets ask federal entities to give at least a quarter of all briefs for senior barristers -- either by number or by… Read more
Plibersek promises to surpass Coalition on public sector gender equality Thursday March 8, 2018 By Stephen Easton Community & Social All mainstream politicians profess to support gender equality, but federal opposition deputy Tanya Plibersek argues the government has not delivered. Labor promises to push harder… Read more
Confidence doesn't help women get ahead: survey call Tuesday March 6, 2018 By The Mandarin News They say fortune favours the bold, but only if you're a man, according to a new survey. Economics researcher Leonora Risse says efforts to reduce… Read more
Uh-oh Canada ... public service musical chairs is unsustainable Friday March 2, 2018 By Stephen Easton Features To attract and retain more millennials in the public sector, it’s not enough to reform slow, complex hiring processes and replace “archaic” technology, according to… Read more
APS diversity and gender equality awards announced Wednesday November 8, 2017 By Stephen Easton News The first Australian Public Service Diversity and Gender Equality Awards were presented this morning, highlighting four examples of how individual public servants, staff networks and… Read more
Women Leaders Index: Australia strong globally, but lags behind Europe Thursday September 14, 2017 By David Donaldson News Australia ranks second among G20 countries for women in leadership in the public sector, but is still behind many of Europe's smaller states. Progress is… Read more
Why a 'blokey' Tasmanian department got an anti-discrimination exemption Monday March 20, 2017 By Stephen Easton Case studies Can positive discrimination co-exist with the merit principle? A Tasmanian deputy secretary believes it can and says it's entirely legitimate for employers to assess job… Read more
Tasmania's top mandarins get together to understand unconscious bias Thursday March 9, 2017 By Stephen Easton News Learning about how unconscious bias can affect recruitment and promotion decisions was "both confronting and rewarding" for Greg Johannes, the head of the Tasmanian State… Read more
Overcoming the flexibility stigma in the APS Wednesday March 8, 2017 By Meraiah Foley & Sue Williamson Features Staff shouldn't need a good excuse like caring responsibilities to go part-time or make use of other kinds of flexible work arrangements, argue researchers Meraiah… Read more
Flexible work arrangements: easy for SES to say, harder for ELs to do Thursday February 23, 2017 By Stephen Easton Culture New research tracking the APS gender equality strategy confirms flexible work isn't as easy for mid-level managers to implement as it is for senior leaders… Read more
AFP 'trying to correct 200-plus years of systemic bias' against women Friday February 10, 2017 By Stephen Easton Culture Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin spoke to a packed house of public sector people about his efforts to reform organisational culture, particularly around gender… Read more
