I visited Beijing in December for the first time since COVID, at the invitation of Renmin University and the Beijing Municipal Government. As well as attending the major conference they were hosting, I was keen to catch up with members of the network of public administration scholars I had helped to establish 15 years ago. (more…)
Andrew Podger
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At last: A serious attempt to fix retirement phase of super
Last year’s Treasury Discussion Paper, “The Retirement Phase of Superannuation“, highlighted the emphasis that has been placed on the accumulation phase of Australia’s superannuation system, and the continued slow progress on the retirement phase, 30 years on from the system’s creation. Sadly, the government’s timid response in November to Treasury’s suggestions and the wealth of submissions its review attracted demonstrated once again unwillingness to bite the bullet and ensure the system actually meets its objective of “delivering income for a dignified retirement”. (more…)
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The APS has more work to do to address Robodebt revelations: Review of Mean Streak by Rick Morton
Towards the end of his book, after referring to the NACC initial decision not to investigate alleged misbehaviour and to the completion of the APSC’s code of conduct investigation, Rick Morton states:
‘a large group of the senior management of the Australian Public Service … would like that to be the end of things, as if robodebt was the result of a few bad actors and not the inevitable crisis that springs from a sclerotic institution.’
It is a conclusion that, sadly, I largely agree with.
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Albanese squibs on APS independence: Can the crossbench force genuine reform?
While the Albanese Government has made some progress in rebuilding APS capability, it has dropped the ball on restoring the degree of independence it promised. Moreover, because so little of what it has done has been legislated, almost everything of consequence could be quickly undone by a future government. For genuine and lasting reform, we must therefore turn to the crossbench to insist on appropriate legislation by the next Parliament. (more…)
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Finding a fair and productive level of inequality: A review of Battlers and Billionaires by Andrew Leigh
When I met Andrew Leigh before his ‘Meet the Authors’ discussion of this new edition of his book, I had to ask him, ‘how on earth do you do this?’. Lyn Hatfield Dodds who moderated the discussion opened with the same question. (more…)
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Why the Productivity Commission is kidding itself on childcare
A more robust analysis by the commission might have yielded different priorities or recommendations for childcare. (more…)
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COVID 19 Response Inquiry Report: A comprehensive review despite its limited terms of reference
My recent review of the book, Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism, by Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden (H&H) highlighted its ‘convincing, frank and honest account’ in just over 200 pages, and encouraged the Health Department in particular to listen to its lessons. The official COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report by Robyn Kruk, Catherine Bennett and Angela Jackson ( KB&J) may lack H&H’s punchiness but is an equally impressive document that deserves careful reading not only by Health but across the Commonwealth and the States. (more…)
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Health Department: Listen to these lessons from our COVID 19 experience
A review of Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden, Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race, UNSW Press (more…)
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‘Fairness and balance’ in P&I reporting on the Middle East
Discussion about the Middle East is difficult. Conflicting views are deeply held and even reasonable people struggle to speak, and to listen, dispassionately and with respect.
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The APSC’s Robodebt code of conduct inquiry: too little, too late and not convincing
Those thousands of Australians so terribly damaged by Robodebt are unlikely to be satisfied by the Robodebt Centralised Code of Conduct Inquiry Report or the associated statement last Friday by the APS Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer. Nor should the public service or the general public. Nor even those who were investigated. (more…)
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Rebuilding public service from politicisation and externalisation
Restoring trust and integrity in the Australian Public Service requires tackling the corrosive effects of past politicisation (secretary contracts) and externalisation (professional consultants) that have undermined capacity and independence, as highlighted by the Royal Commission on Robodebt fiasco, and parliamentary committee revelations around the extensive engagement of major consulting firms. (more…)
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APS integrity reforms could have a big impact
There is reason to believe that genuine integrity reform – even just insistence on obeying the law – would have a big impact. Not just on the operation of the APS but on the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public. (more…)
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A serious reform package that should attract wide support
The proposals set out in the discussion paper released last week are intended to offer a coherent and comprehensive package to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and capacity of the APS and its integrity. The burning platform of Robodebt and other recent public administration failures provide this once-in-a-generation opportunity for genuine and lasting reform, one that must not be missed. (more…)
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Restoring integrity to the Australian Public Service
The purpose of this paper is to help promote discussion about the ways in which the efficiency, effectiveness and capability of the Australian Public Service (APS) and its integrity can be improved, and the standing of the APS as a key institution in Australia’s democratic system can be restored. (more…)
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Pezzullo and Campbell demonstrate the need to review the APS values
Mike Pezzullo’s mea culpa should convince no-one that he understands the seriousness of his breaches of the Code of Conduct or the responsibilities that go with being a departmental secretary.
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Changing mindsets: From wealth creation to delivering retirement incomes
Australia’s superannuation system is based upon defined contributions, largely because that avoids the main weakness of many overseas systems based on defined benefits of rising costs for future generations. (more…)
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Accountability demands putting it in writing
The APS Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer, included some surprising comments when speaking at The Mandarin’s ‘Rebuilding Trust and Integrity in the APS’ conference last week. (more…)
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Albanese’s proposal doesn’t fix bracket creep for low income earners
The Albanese Government’s proposed change to the Stage 3 tax cuts is clearly a broken promise; or, put another way, where was the political courage to offer an alternative when Stage 3 was announced (well ahead of the 2022 election)? But for the purposes of this analysis, let’s put those genuine integrity issues aside. (more…)
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Holding senior public servants to account
A central question the Joint Committee on Public Accountability and Audit is pursuing in its inquiry into probity and ethics in the Commonwealth public sector is how to hold individual public servants to account for the failures so often being found in ANAO reports and those of other inquiries. Must we have a Royal Commission before individuals are identified and held to account? (more…)
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Politicalisation is a bipartisan problem: Victoria’s Labor Government joins the club
The most disappointing part of the Victorian Ombudsman’s report on alleged politicisation of the public sector is the ‘nothing to see here’ response by the Secretary of the Premier’s Department, Jeremi Moule. Perhaps this is not surprising given Victoria, like so many other jurisdictions in recent years, has appointed someone closely associated with the First Minister and the current Government to head the First Minister’s Department and take on the formal role of head of the public service. (more…)
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Serious reform now firmly on the agenda
The good news from Katy Gallagher’s second progress report on APS Reform presented at ANU last week is that there will be a second Public Service Act Amendment Bill in the new year containing much more substantive reform than the disappointing Bill before the Parliament at the moment. (more…)
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The Pezzullo affair: Time to clarify APS values and responsibilities
Glyn Davis may have been ‘shocked’ by the Pezzullo revelations but, as several other observers have noted, many other people inside and outside the public service were not really surprised. (more…)
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Engaging with China despite rising tensions
The challenges of engagement when international tensions rise go beyond defence and security considerations. The benefits, however, are vitally important and deserve continued investment. It is essential therefore to consider carefully the terms of engagement – the sometimes conflicting principles that should guide engagement. (more…)
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Pezzullo story points to serious systemic problems in the APS
The revelations in the Nine newspapers that Mike Pezzullo, secretary of the powerful Home Affairs department, shared with Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs are certainly extraordinary. But, just like the revelations about Robodebt from the royal commission, they must not be treated as an isolated case but as evidence of serious systemic problems in the Australian Public Service (APS). (more…)
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MOP(S) Act Amendment Bill: Much to commend but critical omissions too
There is a lot more substance to the Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bill now before the Parliament than the Public Service Act Amendment Bill. But, once again, a key reform proposed by the Thodey Review and endorsed by the Robodebt Royal Commission is missing. (more…)
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Balancing responsiveness and independence: Another view
Frank and fearless advising is certainly a function of character as Peter Shergold said in 2007, a line Mike Keating endorses in his recent article in Pearls and Irritations, but I still believe firmly that it is also a function of the limited tenure of departmental secretaries as I argued with Shergold in the pages of the Australian Journal of Public Administration. (more…)
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‘Merit’ is the forgotten fundamental APS value
It is dispiriting that the Public Service Act Amendment Bill now before the Parliament says so little about ‘merit’. Nothing about secretary appointments and terminations and only a minor grammatical change to clarify that ministers are not able to direct agency heads about individuals’ employment. (more…)
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Campbell’s AUKUS appointment was probably justified
Criticism of Kathryn Campbell’s appointment a year ago to a $900,000 a year job to assist with implementation of the AUKUS agreement is mostly based on hindsight following the adverse comments about her performance in DHS and DSS by the Robodebt Royal Commission. To be fair to those who made that decision, it is important to disentangle the different issues involved and to consider what information was available to them at the time. (more…)
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‘Accountability’ of the Public Service: The Robodebt Royal Commission highlights personal responsibilities
The Robodebt Royal Commission makes clear that the APS Value, ‘accountability’, is not just aspirational: individual public servants have duties and failing to meet them should have serious consequences. (more…)
