Partner Content

The public and private sectors are different, and not everything translates well, but some things do if adapted. We know – we do a lot of work at the intersection of the two and many of us have worked inside both public and private sectors. Fundamentally, the challenge is perspective – if you see the world from one perspective, one set of experiences, your view is myopic – tunnel vision. You lose the opportunity to learn and adapt, to accept there might be other ways of doing business that would improve yours. You have to be open to the possibility […]

Imagine you have put a lot of effort into writing a document for your manager. You’re keen to find out if they agree with you. But you’re also worried they might not. Will your document be successful? We all want our workplace writing to succeed. But how do you write a successful document? More importantly, what does a successful document do? It all starts with persuasion. Successful documents get outcomes. They influence our readers to act. For example, if your manager is persuaded by your brief that explains the importance of a costly change, they might give that change the […]

Fair-and-reasonable (FAR). That’s the standard, the test for organisations handling personal information (PI) under the proposed privacy reforms. The FAR principle is also found in the ‘Objects’ section of the FOI Act at section 3(4), outlining that FOI functions “are to be be performed and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to information, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost.” And yes – fair call, I was pushing the envelope with the ‘FAR’ reference, but Commonwealth agencies may need to re-examine their approaches to what is fair-and-reasonable and what constitutes the lowest-reasonable-cost (LRC) when managing […]

Many executives and team leaders say that reviewing documents written by their team members is a huge challenge for them. Reviewing and writing do not always come hand-in-hand. A good writer won’t necessarily automatically be good at reviewing documents as well. There is a chance that their contributions might not improve a document at all and damage their writer’s confidence in the process. This new guide by the Plain English Foundation outlines: 7 questions to ask yourself to find out if you can improve your reviewing skills. Ways you can avoid the traps bad reviewers fall into. Tips to help […]

Workplace writing cannot succeed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Yet most of us enter the workforce having learned exactly that: the essay. Why do we use this approach and how does it limit successful communication? An essay is the perfect writing tool for an education setting. The simple beginning, middle and end pattern helps students tackle the challenging task of assignment writing. And the predictable structure allows teachers to mark dozens of essays more efficiently. But surely more complex writing tasks call for different tools in our writing toolbox? Here are 4 features of essay writing that can slow us down […]

Aerial imagery can play a key role in helping mitigate the growing threat of natural disasters in addition to providing crucial information to assist emergency responses to catastrophes like the 2019/20 bushfire crisis and the 2022 floods. In its 2023 report Future Proofing Australia’s Resilience, the Insurance Council of Australia predicted that costs associated with extreme weather events were projected to double by 2050 as bushfires, cyclones, and floods increased in severity and frequency.   Daniel Paull, executive vice president and general manager of Nearmap Australia and New Zealand said with high-cost catastrophic events likely to impact communities at least […]

With increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters occurring in Australia, thousands of households experience unprecedented disruption. These disasters have also challenged traditional disaster response models. Emerging technology, such as geospatial intelligence and aerial mapping, can provide governments and local authorities with crucial assistance as they prepare their response to these disasters. Nearmap’s new whitepaper ‘Preparing Australia for disaster response and recovery’ explores: The different solutions that can provide assistance in disaster situations. Case studies where this technology was successful in providing aid or insights. Why utilising this technology is important during an emergency situation. Download the whitepaper today.

Technology that can quickly combine and analyse billions of disparate pieces of data into a “single source of truth” is helping authorities fight back against sophisticated criminals and simultaneously improving the speed and efficiency of government decision-making. Known as Decision Intelligence, its ability to draw together enormous tracts of internal and external data into a single trusted source has been used by the British Cabinet office and the Australian Government to trace sophisticated networks and crack down on fraud in government programs. Imam Hoque, a co-founder of London-based Quantexa, said demand for the company’s Decision Intelligence Platform and related solutions […]

A comprehensive approach to addressing the human security risks posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is needed – one that supports consideration across the breadth of security dimensions impacted and addresses root causes. Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are triple planetary crises of our time. They are widespread, intensifying and unequivocally human-induced. In September the world’s temperatures were 0.93C warmer than average – and in Australia, we experienced the driest month on record. The Bureau of Meteorology has since declared an El Nino and positive Indian Ocean Dipole are both underway increasing climate and environment risks in […]

Being an industry that stores a lot of sensitive information, the security community and decision makers in the Australian Public Sector must be up-to-date with the latest trends in cybersecurity and the threats that may prevent them from keeping their databases safe and sound in the future. This issue of BlackBerry’s ‘Global Threat Intelligence Report’ explores the latest cybersecurity challenges faced by many industry sectors, including the following highlights. During the period between June 2023 and August 2023, there was a 70% increase of unique malware files compared to BlackBerry’s previous reporting period. BlackBerry Cybersecurity solutions stopped over 3.3 million […]

Australia’s strategic policy has for decades suffered from a crisis of identity. We are not alone in changing political priorities, mismanaged projects or having to adjust to evolving strategic circumstances. But we want to have it both ways, all the time, and without due care to how long it takes or how much it costs. In their new eBook ‘Lessons from Cato and the failure of imagination’, Synergy wonders whether Defence has the ability to transform quickly before the strategic window of opportunity slams shut forever. This eBook also asks whether our adversary is: prioritising effective mobilisation at the national […]

Australia’s shifting media landscape presents both challenges and opportunities for the public sector going into 2024. Driven by rising fears of misinformation and a growing desire for diverse perspectives, the Australian public expects more from the news and entertainment they consume.  Streem’s 2023 State of Australian Media report explores the five major trends shaping the media landscape today. For public sector leaders, these insights can act as a compass guiding policy decisions in the new year. Here are some key takeaways from the report.  Changing news consumption in 2023 The Australian public still turns to the news as a key […]

As this year comes to a close, public sector leaders may look to the media landscape to help guide policy decisions that they are planning to focus on in 2024. This is why it is essential for them to understanding the trends that are present in the media now as this will impact on the direction it is heading towards in the future. These trends are explored in Streem’s ‘State of Australian Media Report 2023’. By reading through this report, you will: Understand the changes and pressing issues that define the state of Australian media today. Learn about the five […]

If 2023 is remembered for nothing else, it will be for how artificial intelligence (AI) has pervaded the public consciousness and industries alike to become a defining force in our lives. While innovative companies and fast-moving sectors have been quick to adopt AI solutions, the public sector without the competitive pressures faced by private companies, has remained tentative towards AI adoption. The reality, however, is that digital transformation – and indeed AI-powered transformation – is now an expectation, rather than a nice-to-have. So decision-makers in the public sector must start reacting to how AI is impacting the communities they serve, […]