royal commissions

What makes a good royal commission? There are ways to ensure they are not simply political props for politicians in a crisis.

The former prime minister kept calling royal commissions, and kept working out ways to undermine ones he thought might be embarrassing.

Once scarce, royal commissions have become common in recent years — the result of a Coalition government keen to politically manage crises.

Robodebt and PwC are just the start of the uncomfortable truth that our oversight and integrity bodies are not very effective.

Another day, another royal commission. For every major problem facing Australia it seems someone, somewhere, will call for a royal commission.

A new review of an entire decade’s worth inquiries into the community services sector suggests a seemingly futile cycle of evidence-based, largely-untouched calls for action.

The processes of making decisions might seem perfectly sane and sensible when you’re inside government, but when you’re outside government on the receiving end of them, they look insane and very slow, says Fran Thorn. Show a lot of empathy, put yourself in the place of the people who are delivering services, and stop thinking, ‘why don’t they see the worth of this and get on and do it?’