Thought Leadership

Watch the Highlights here. An election year is a year of new possibilities for the public sector. The Mandarin’s managing editor Chris Johnson was joined in conversation with one of Australia’s most forward thinking economists Dr Richard Denniss from The Australia Institute. The pair discussed Richard’s new book Big: The…

As a society we have come to define ‘hybrid work’ as simply having the flexibility to work between our home and the office. But, the problem with this definition is that it’s narrow. Unnecessarily so. In reality we have always been hybrid workers. Consider this… Sometimes you might work from your laptop, sometimes you might…

Watch the Highlights on YouTube Unpacking the State of the Service report 2021 has been a challenging time for the public sector in Australia. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to push capabilities to the limit, and no one knows this better than our guest Peter Woolcott AO, the Australian Public Service…

So much of core government business is about solving problems — delivering services where there is a need or building infrastructure for public utility — but defining ‘value for money’ is about more than driving down costs. We speak to a social procurement expert to learn more. Dr Warren Staples,…

A draft framework introduced in NSW aims for architectural co-design on environment projects that have Aboriginal connections to Country at heart. Ros Moriarty says the days of government initiatives that invite Indigenous artists to paint a mural on the wall to tick a ‘First Nations consultation’ box are over. The…

COMMENT It is a cliché, but sunlight is the greatest disinfectant with a landscape that is bleached with the sun’s glare leaving little hidden from view. People can see a landscape for miles and navigate their way in full knowledge that in general, hazards will be visible. The situation is…

COVID-19 has placed enormous demands on the public sector, stretching public servants at national, state and local government levels. Working on both the public health and economic responses, many public servants report working harder than ever before. Yet once the acute phase of the crisis passes, the work is unlikely…

12 August 2021. 1pm AEST. Insights for the public sector on Australia’s COVID-19 response. Watch the Highlights. The Mandarin‘s Melissa Coade was joined by Jane Halton AO, Chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, co-chair of the COVAX initiative, and former secretary of the Australian Department of Health, and…

Australia’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic was all about going ‘hard and early’ and, with other government measures, it looked as though political leadership was capable of rising to meet the challenge of the virus head-on — but Dr Don Russell says that is slowly slipping away. When Don…

It was a day to discover, learn about and master the art of meaningful communication strategies. Great communication won’t make a poor policy good, but poor communication can guarantee that policy doesn’t deliver. Add to that, the third decade of the 21st century is bringing a perfect storm of issues…

It was a day to discover, learn about and master the art of meaningful communication strategies. Great communication won’t make a poor policy good, but poor communication can guarantee that policy doesn’t deliver. Add to that, the third decade of the 21st century is bringing a perfect storm of issues…

Working out which powers can be relinquished is the first step agencies can make towards Aboriginal self-determination, says Rueben Berg. There has been a big push in recent years for self-determination to underpin government’s relationships with First Nations peoples. But it’s not always clear to public servants how this principle…

Even the flexible work advocates at VEOHRC worried about providing frontline services remotely during lockdown — and were surprised at how well it worked. We all know someone whose boss insisted they could not possibly work from home — until the pandemic forced them to. You might even be one…

Only two countries have had three female heads of government: Finland and New Zealand. Even these are relatively recent achievements. Finnish PM Sanna Marin has held her role since 2019, whereas Jacinda Ardern became the Kiwi PM in 2017. “As Australians we have a loving and competitive relationship with New…

In times of peril, citizens typically turn to their leaders and governing institutions for support. The 2019–20 bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic have seen more Australians relying on governments for assistance and action to ensure their core human needs, such as safety and security, continue to be met. A new…