Features

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is fighting to win over the hearts and minds of voters. Every day, a small team of highly autonomous operators, led by media and digital engagement director Evan Ekin-Smyth, takes on voting misinformation and explains how the AEC is enforcing Australia’s electoral rules.  Their major…

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 the federal government introduces its religious discrimination law into parliament, a constitutional law expert says parts of it raise no controversy while others have far-reaching consequences.  Prime minister Scott Morrison says the laws will “protect citizens in a tolerant, multicultural, liberal democracy” and the bill “balances freedom with responsibilities”. …

The OECD has recorded literally hundreds of governments and NGOs worldwide dedicated to nuding and other behavioural interventions, writes Melissa Coade. If the application of behavioural insights and principles of psychology, including nudge theory, is a way to deliver cheaper and more effective government, does that mean there was something…

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…

Booster vaccination shots against COVID-19 have already begun for some people at high risk from the virus, and could become available to Australians six months after their second dose.  Lieutenant General John Frewen, leader of the national vaccine taskforce, said booster doses were already being offered to the immunocompromised.  But…

In the deaf community, when public information comes to hand about the coronavirus pandemic, it’s often literally through the hands and expressions of Linda Warby.  At dozens of Canberra press conferences this year, the interpreter has stood beside senior federal officials and ministers to put their words into sign language…

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…

The Australian Public Service workforce is growing bigger but the pandemic has led to the most temporary jobs being in the mix since at least 2002.  The sector grew by 2.3% in the 2020-21 financial year, with about 3500 more staff boosting the total workforce to 153,495 people, according to…

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…