Menu Close

Articles on Australian Public Service

Displaying 1 - 20 of 22 articles

Andrew Metcalfe, sacked by prime minister Tony Abbott, has done a full circle and is being appointed to head the new department of agriculture, water and the environment by Morrison. Alan Porritt/AAP

Morrison cuts a swathe through the public service, with five departmental heads gone

Morrison said the shrinking of the number of departments was “to ensure the services that Australians rely on are delivered more efficiently and effectively”.
Delivering the Parliamentary Library Lecture on Tuesday, Podger said the incentives for senior public servants had changed, and this had affected the way they acted. Shutterstock

Don’t practice ‘promiscuous partisanship’, former public service commissioner warns bureaucrats

The former public service commissioner said the relationship between ministers and the Australian public service has transformed from a partnership to one more like “master-servant”.
Beth Noveck and Rod Glover argue that to reverse the ‘creeping crisis’ faced by the public service, the government must train public servants to use creative problem-solving methods. Shutterstock

Politics with Michelle Grattan: on the ‘creeping crisis’ in the public service

On the ‘creeping crisis’ in the public service The Conversation, CC BY28.8 MB (download)
A timely study of the public service, titled Today's problems, Yesterday's toolkit discusses the ‘creeping crisis’ of effectiveness and legitimacy the Australian public service is facing.
Selection panels interrupt women more than men and ask them more follow-up questions, subtly questioning their competence. Andrey Popov/Shutterstock

Research shows ‘merit’ is highly subjective and changes with our values

The vast majority of managers said they wanted “the best person for the job”. They had less idea of just who that might be, or how to ensure appointments on merit and equity targets co-exist.
The public service union has welcomed the new Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott as “a much needed change” from his controversial predecessor. Control Arms/flickr

Turnbull’s chief of staff to be new Public Service Commissioner

Woolcott is a public servant with a career in diplomacy. While in the Turnbull office he has been on leave from his position as a deputy secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The public sector of the future will need to embrace a new way of thinking. Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com

Leaner public service will have to work smarter

In the wake of the proclaimed “budget emergency”, should we get ready for the “innovation emergency”? With fewer resources, Australia’s public sector will not achieve its performance targets by working…
The Commission of Audit, led by Tony Shepherd, has recommended radical changes to the way we do government in Australia. AAP/Lukas Coch

We need a leaner, meaner public service: Commission of Audit

The Commission of Audit’s report, released yesterday, sets out a radical blueprint for the role of government, the scope of its activities and how it goes about getting things done. For the most part there…
Is Australia’s public sector delivering the right levels of ‘bang’ in return for our ‘bucks’? AAP/Tracey Nearmy

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? Short answer: very

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? This question is difficult to answer with precision, but important to all of us. After all, this is our money being spent on us and the things we care about…
In one of his first acts in office, prime minister Tony Abbott axed three department heads, while treasury secretary Martin Parkinson (pictured) will depart next year. AAP/Saeed Khan

Abbott and the public service: where now on department heads?

Prime minister Tony Abbott’s decision to sack three departmental secretaries within hours of his swearing-in earlier this week has not attracted the same shock John Howard’s decision to sack six secretaries…

Top contributors

More