Decorated former commando resigns as NSW SES commissioner amid misconduct allegations
Mark Smethurst, the NSW State Emergency Services (SES) Commissioner, has offered his resignation follow allegations of misconduct. Read More
NSW
Former auditor-general steps up as first NSW productivity commissioner
Peter Achterstraat has been appointed as the state's first productivity commissioner, charged with attracting domestic migrants and business investment from other parts of Australia. Read More
Business people make six times as many FOI requests as journos in NSW
Journalists only made 3% of requests for New South Wales government information in the last financial year, while six times as many came from private sector companies. Read More
Berejiklian’s Industry swoop: new secretary already at the helm
New South Wales Department of Industry secretary Simon Smith was replaced over the weekend by Simon Draper, who has been promoted from deputy secretary for economic policy in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Read More
New report highlights the perils of poor employee screening
The New South Wales ICAC may only make recommendations for one state, but its latest advice about properly screening candidates in recruitment and promotions to prevent more serious corruption has universal application. Read More
Co-design gone wrong: FACS responds to union’s fury over ChildStory ‘catastrophe’
The NSW Department of Family and Community Services says it is "absolutely confident" that its troubled ChildStory system is better than the system it replaces. The union, however, says the department and the minister are ignoring the seriousness of longstanding problems that threaten the ability of case workers to protect children. Read More
NSW councils applaud auditor-general’s first foray into their sector
New South Wales residents should be given more detailed information about how local councils spend their money and what they get out of it, the auditor-general recommends, and the peak body that represents them is all for it. Read More
Deeper change: using behavioural insights to tackle family violence
Behavioural insights teams are turning to society's toughest questions, like social mobility and family violence. With experimentation and an understanding of irrational behaviour, there's great potential beyond getting taxes paid on time. Read More
Disaster recovery: audits urge public servants to plan for the worst
When floods, fires or storms strike, the public sector needs its critical IT systems. Audits across three states suggest not all agencies are up to scratch, and offer useful recommendations on best practice disaster recovery planning. Read More
Huxtable: shared services can work; the APS can’t afford for it to fail
Department of Finance secretary Rosemary Huxtable is confident that shared services can reduce administrative costs and support modernisation of the Australian Public Service, based on the lessons of past attempts by various governments, both successful and not-so-successful. Read More
Why do government agencies need so many consultants?
A public service HR consultant explains his view on why government agencies increasingly need to rely on big firms like the one he works for. It's a controversial trend, and he sometimes finds himself questioning how his expertise is used. Read More
Single sites like gov.au are old hat, says NSW CIDO Damon Rees
It's not worth creating a single government website like the federal government almost got with gov.au, in the view of NSW chief information and digital officer Damon Rees. Read More
Customers will dictate online identity credentials: NSW digital chief
Innovation isn’t what you invent, it’s what customers use and state tech guru Damon Rees is keeping an open mind. Read More
Q&A with NSW government’s first chief information security officer
The NSW government's first chief information security officer Maria Milosavljevic answers a few questions about her new role and how cyber security does not have to come at the expense of innovation, which she will discuss in more detail at the upcoming IPAA NSW conference. Read More
NSW nudge teams set their sights on more complex public policy challenges
Behavioural science teams in the New South Wales government are beginning to apply their approach to bigger, more complex public policy challenges. So far, nudge squads have mostly looked to influence citizen behaviour in simple, transactional situations. Read More