Thought Leadership

Investing in policy labs and innovation hubs could help Australian governments tackle other policy problems as well as we’ve responded to COVID-19. Lisa Paul and Ben Hubbard recently discussed the importance of war-gaming and institutional capability. Lisa Paul The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated how effective Australian governments can be in a crisis, says…

Good record-keeping will allow the story of the coronavirus pandemic to be told. The challenge is making sure data is still readable for future generations. David Fricker Records made during the COVID-19 pandemic will last hundreds of years, and help public servants respond to crises of the future, says David…

To mark Privacy Awareness Week, Victoria’s anti-corruption commissioner the Honourable Robert Redlich QC shares his tips for how the public sector can protect against the risk of unauthorised release or misuse of sensitive public sector information, particularly when working from home. Robert Redlich Responding to the COVID-19 emergency is an…

Don’t wait until you start getting health problems to set up your work from home space properly, warns ergonomics expert Jodi Oakman. And forgive yourself if you can’t do everything perfectly at the moment — “sometimes good enough is okay”. Having a daily schedule while working from home is useful,…

With governments rushing to push out new programs, this implementation checklist can help you avoid common pitfalls. The coronavirus pandemic is moving quickly, and so is the government response to it. But as we saw in the global financial crisis, fast policy responses can easily fall prey to implementation problems.…

Whether you’re a secretary or middle manager, taking the right approach to guiding staff through the COVID-19 crisis is vital for maintaining wellbeing. We aren’t just living in strange times, but working through them too. Jono Nicholas While many of life’s basic activities are interrupted, with offices empty, schools closed,…

COVID-19 ROAD TO RECOVERY — WHAT GOVERNMENTS CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER: There are plenty of examples of governments handling the containment of the virus very wrong and there are some excellent cases of nations getting it very right. In this series of Mandarin Premium features, introduced by Chris Johnson,…

COVID-19 ROAD TO RECOVERY — WHAT GOVERNMENTS CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER: Policymakers are now trying to work out what we should be aiming for — total elimination of the virus, or merely keeping it under control until a vaccine is available. David Donaldson spoke with several scholars for their…

COVID-19 ROAD TO RECOVERY — WHAT GOVERNMENTS CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER: This pandemic has put federal and state governments between the devil and the deep blue sea when it comes to managing risk, writes Verona Burgess. Nothing is more important for the Australian Public Service, in helping chart the “road…

Crises make record-keeping more difficult, but the spectre of a post-crisis inquiry will be in the back of many minds. So what do public servants need to consider as they respond to COVID-19 — especially following Glenys Beauchamp’s admission she destroyed her notebooks? Record-keeping is vital in government — it’s…

The jury is still out on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19). What is known is that a new form of corona virus crossed over from animal to human hosts in Wuhan over the final weeks or months of 2019 before galloping across the province of Hubei in December…

Psychology helps us understand why some people resist public health efforts, but it also explains why many people are distracted at work and how we adopt new health-preserving habits. Peter McEvoy If you’re having difficulty concentrating on work at the moment with everything that’s going on in the world, you’re…

My mother would come out with the quaintest of pronouncements. One favourite turn of phrase, after listening to the nightly news on the radio, was: “There. What did I say. You never can tell.”  I suspect I took on that oft-repeated statement as something of a challenge when shaping my…

Channelling people’s goodwill in a disaster can prevent well-meaning assistance becoming its own problem, says humanitarian expert Beth Eggleston. Plus, why diversity and community resilience strengthen a crisis response. Beth Eggleston Diversity may not be the first issue that comes to mind during a crisis. But it’s a vital part…

Concerned about the speed at which governments are being forced to respond, the Sydney Policy Lab has developed five principles to guide responses to COVID-19. The coronavirus crisis is fast-moving and requires quick responses from policymakers. Marc Stears But it’s important to keep in mind that decisions made now may…