Policy

The upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic has presented the Australian Public Service with a ‘blank slate’ to start again, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson.

The New South Wales corruption watchdog has released a new conflicts of interest sample policy along with FAQs for public servants. The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s publication, Managing conflicts of interest in the public sector, outlines four elements to consider when determining whether a conflict of interest exists: Does the official have a personal interest? […]

It is time to move away from the ‘government are from Venus, researchers are from Mars’ narrative. Instead we should focus on the challenges both parties are looking at from different but complementary angles. At a glance In paper for the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, Peter Bragge (Monash University) outlines the following ten ways to […]

A memo to the APS from Jason Lange, Executive Director of The Office of Best Practice Regulation in the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet.

The Department of Education has been praised for the design and governance of its child care package, acting as a good example for other agencies. Child care functions were transferred from the Department of Social Services to Education in September 2015.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has issued new guidance on finalising and publishing a regulation impact statement. According to the department website, “the publication of RISs and information about their adequacy is critical to transparency”.

Like policy failures, policy successes are in the eye of the beholder. They are not mere facts but stories. To claim a public policy, program or project is a ‘success’ is effectively an act of interpretation. How can we identify and analyse examples of policy success?  Where can we find case studies on successful policy […]

Policy coordination is an age old challenge for government. As the problems confronting governments have become more complex, effective coordination is even more critical.  But

The Department of Home Affairs has not accepted recommendations to improve protections for roughly 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers “living in the shadows” in Australia. 

The first Australian Public Service F@#kup Night is being hosted by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science on July 25. Attendees are promised an afternoon of open and honest stories of the lessons learned from failure, told by three senior executives from the federal government.

The importance of thinking about how implementation is going to work when designing policy is well recognised but remains a challenge, said Sir Chris Wormald in an address to our APS.

Heads of Australian Public Service departments have launched the beta version of a new collaboration website as a “hub” for their staff to collectively improve professional standards in policymaking.