Re-elected Prime Minister’s public message to department heads
Prime Minister Scott Morrison brought department heads out in front of the media cameras on Thursday and told them not to get in the way of his agenda. Read More
media
Almost 1000 data breaches in a year, and citizens don’t know who to trust with privacy
There were 964 data breaches reported to the federal regulator in the first year of mandatory reporting rules and “malicious or criminal attacks” were behind 60% of cases, with most of the remainder caused by human error and only 5% blamed on malfunctions. Read More
Dr Martin Parkinson: Brexit, multilateralism and how the media impacts policy work
The secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was interviewed by the UK government's Civil Service Quarterly about what a post-Brexit UK can learn from Australia, how policy development is changing, and rebuilding capability and public trust. Read More
Media outlets boycott forum of governments in wake of ABC ban
While government officials might privately daydream about banning certain media outlets or journalists from covering their activities, the prospect suddenly became very real in wake of the government of Nauru blocking representative of the ABC from attending the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum. Read More
Kyle Sandilands’ former HR boss becomes NSW public service commissioner
After being the HR boss for the company that has controversial radio host Kyle Sandilands on the payroll, surely a few hundred thousand public servants shouldn't present too much of a problem. Read More
Tom Burton: how the gray lady narrates Trump’s world
The New York Times is playing a pivotal role explaining the Trump administration's often unpredictable behaviour for the world's foreign policy community. That it is a global liberal institution like the Times writing Trump's story angers many of his base supporters. Read More
When it comes to trust, a good offence is your worst defence
Centrelink bosses think they stayed within the law but they "rode roughshod" over conventional attitudes to privacy, writes ethicist Matthew Beard. Governments should pick their battles to earn the trust of the public. Read More
Losing oxygen to leakers and the media, Centrelink’s comms fall back to ‘the facts’
The Department of Human Services rejects speculation that 90% of Centrelink's automated assessments of past welfare entitlements are wrong, as more staff speak out against their employer. Read More
Census response rate estimated over 96%, but is there any trust left?
News outlets have stopped listening to the ABS message. Despite IT issues and talk of a boycott, the 2016 Census may have had a pretty similar response rate to the last two surveys. But is #CensusFail all the public will remember? Read More
Explain the facts, not the politics, but talk to the public (and media) 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 confusion? Lloyd lines up against local paper again
Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd has shown again he prefers an active approach to communications with his latest rebuttal of a news report. Read More
IPAA baton passes to Gordon de Brouwer
INTERVIEW: Environment secretary Gordon de Brouwer takes over as president of IPAA ACT this week. He tells The Mandarin that contested debate — in public, not in code — is how public administration will improve. Read More
The $1.8m bill for media monitoring by federal agencies
The Mandarin reveals details on how much government departments are spending on media monitoring. For reporting firm iSentia, government represents some of their biggest clients. Read More
Public servants complaining to the media: ‘un-Australian’ or valid last resort?
Is it "un-Australian" for public servants to complain to the media about management? The WA Premier thinks so, but a group of doctors saw it as a valid last resort when professional concerns were ignored. Read More
Tabloid mole working in a mad, Mad public service world
A "faceless bureaucrat" working in the "bowels" of the NSW bureaucracy has penned a wisely anonymous screed for The Advertiser. It's like working on the set of Mad Men, they say. Read More