Premium Interviews The art of advising a minister and other department secretary duties Federal Dr Don Russell shares his tips for those senior public servants committed to helping ministers serve the Australian people.
How public servants can prevent their new minister from scrapping a good policy Friday June 4, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Federal Caroline Edwards has explained how APS employees should respond when a new minister wants to pull the plug on a policy or program.
Why is there no APS college? ASIO head Duncan Lewis says public service needs its own school Wednesday September 11, 2019 By Stephen Easton Defence Retiring ASIO head Duncan Lewis says the Australian Public Service "could do better" by offering a lot more education and training to prepare its leaders,…
Re-elected Prime Minister's public message to department heads Thursday May 23, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal 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…
Public servants hastily polish up the blue books as new Morrison ministry takes shape Wednesday May 22, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal A who's-who of the members in contention for Coalition ministerial positions in the days after the 2019 federal election.
Former secretary: 'persuasion and trust' the keys to 'complex' role of leading a department Friday May 10, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal The most useful tools for senior public servants are “persuasion and trust” in the view of former Commonwealth secretary Gordon de Brouwer, who sits on…
Public service becomes a ministerial portfolio in NSW post-election reshuffle Tuesday April 2, 2019 By Stephen Easton New South Wales New South Wales now has a Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations following a post-election reshuffle, in which Don Harwin was allocated the…
Martin Parkinson: public servants should school rookie MPs and ministers Tuesday December 18, 2018 By Stephen Easton Federal The public service should provide training to new members of parliament, ministers and their staff, in the view of senior Commonwealth secretary Martin Parkinson. He…
How established bureaucracies can make new ministers feel in charge Tuesday August 14, 2018 By Harley Dennett Features Transition from opposition to government can be hard on ministers who aren't used to seeing the public service as on their side. Now they need…
Opinion is king: how governments can end the cycle of distrust Tuesday December 6, 2016 By Emily Jenke & Emma Lawson Features Distrust between government and citizens goes both ways, but deliberative democracy offers opportunities in this age of individualism. The convenors of SA's citizens' juries consider…
Unelected officials can play a role in rebuilding public trust Thursday July 7, 2016 By Stephen Easton Features FEATURE: Public trust in government has declined in recent years, but how can public servants help? Experts discuss how public servants can play an…
Gareth Evans: public servants had it best under us Tuesday March 8, 2016 By The Mandarin News Were the Labor years of Hawke and Keating good for the public service? That's been in dispute, with a senior minister of the time insisting…
Mind the rise — and ever rise — of ministerial advisers Wednesday February 24, 2016 By Graeme Dobell Features Gough Whitlam created them. Malcolm Fraser cemented them. And the move to new Parliament House multiplied them — exponentially ever since. Charting the rise and…
Charlie Shandil: Frank, fearless ... and replaceable Tuesday January 5, 2016 By Charlie Shandil Features While politicians get "captain's picks" in selecting departmental heads, is the role of the Australian public service to provide impartial advice being undermined? The lack…
When the guard changes: how to manage a new government Wednesday November 26, 2014 By Chas Savage Features What should bureaucrats do when their masters in government change? Elections are tricky times. Understand the authorising environment has fundamentally shifted, says our expert.
