The proximal stimulus for Pradeep Philip’s Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance was media reporting about the extent of medical practitioner fraud against Medicare. But the distal cause was more fundamental. The Medicare payment regime, bureaucratic oversight, policy development and information technology infrastructure to support Medicare payments are all…
By the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war had become dismayingly familiar to Ukrainians and outside observers alike. A terrible routine had emerged: on the 800-kilometre front, two large armies faced each other, neither able to advance much. Ferocious fighting with huge casualties around Bakhmut had…
According to the many hawks who appear to dominate Australia’s defence policy discussions, Australia could be at war with China within three years. Many of these same (mostly government or defence-industry funded) hawks have welcomed the government’s $268 billion-$368 billion commitment to nuclear-powered submarines under the so-called AUKUS pact, announced…
In 1974, Woroni, the student magazine of the Australian National University, published an article looking at the lives of lesbians at the university. One contributor, “Jody”, told of her experience with a doctor who pressured her for details on how she has sex, and who didn’t believe her reports of…
Like many others, I have been amazed by the text and art people are sharing online, made with nothing but a few words typed into an artificial intelligence (AI) generative deep-learning model (and, some say, the uncredited work of millions of creators). Working in privacy and technology regulation, I take…
In Seth MacFarlane’s off-beat homage to Star Trek, The Orville, the increasingly earnest show becomes a series of cautionary tales. In one episode, Majority Rules, MacFarlane signals the dangers of the real world mirroring the online one. The crew of the Orville attempt to rescue a couple of imprisoned anthropologists from an Earth-like…
So far, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme is all about the Australian Public Service, as you would expect since the Federal Court described the matter in June as a “massive failure of public administration” and a “shameful chapter” in Australia’s social security history. The former ministers — principally…
A new index has shown public confidence in the public service and government has plummeted (again) compared to other sectors which experienced a “softening” in ethics over the past year. In 2022, the ethics index scored public service and government at 38, down eight points from the 2021 (46) and…
According to the 2022 UN E-Government survey, Denmark, Finland and South Korea scored the highest when it comes to the breadth and quality of digital services they provide. Despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions that prevailed in 2021, Australia remains one of the top 10 nations globally alongside countries including New…
Key executives in the Department of Social Services were told of fundamental legal and operational problems inherent in how an ambitious payments-integrity program was being designed as early as 2014, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme has heard from a key witness. In a day marked by protracted delays…
The night after the Federal Budget for 2022-23 was delivered, Sam Mostyn AO, Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, took a microphone during a Q&A session, brandished a copy of the Women’s Budget Statement, and shared her insights with a rapt audience. “This is a huge, huge step.” “Gender…
When it comes to budgets, the prevailing narrative is that when there are significant deficits, expenditure needs to be cut or deferred to balance the books, in the same way that households need to trim their spending when it comes to meeting mortgage repayments. In reality, governments are far more…
No one is looking for this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit to provide a panacea for all of Australia’s intersecting challenges, but almost everyone is hoping for a turning point, an agenda that charts the way forward. How we bring our country’s care economy to maturity needs to be a…
As a Canberra veterinary surgeon, Dr Sandra Cuthbert handled many sensitive and complex issues in emotionally charged situations. Now, as CEO of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), Cuthbert is using some of those skills to help keep citizens safe and well informed about their food choices. Dealing with many…
Jody Broun has been typically active since joining the National Indigenous Australians Agency in February. The agency’s first Indigenous CEO spent her first six weeks travelling 12,800 kilometres to visit Indigenous communities and NIAA offices in Perth, Karratha, Broome, Port Hedland, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. What did Broun discover?…