Bernard Keane

Instead of wondering ‘what’s next for the APS’, we revise the master document Glyn Davis co-authored on how to fix the bureaucracy. 

For those doing an IGB for the first time, here are some tips; check them before declaring the product ready to go on Friday.

What is the appropriate level of the use of consultants in the public service? Has it gone too far? Are consultants doing too much core/routine work or are they providing a vital service? 

When more than half of Australians have little or no trust in what is supposed to be one of the world’s great public services, it’s bad for democracy. And it’s consistent with the broad decline in levels of trust in government and faith in democracy in Australia over the past three decades, writes Bernard Keane. 

As every public servant knows, advisers on both sides of politics range from highly competent, agreeable people who work collaboratively with the bureaucracy, to rabid ideologues who regard public servants as something between beasts of burden and monstrous enemies. It’s a bell curve, like any slice of humanity, so most end up being somewhere in the middle.