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Government Observed

This Month

Advances in cancer treatment are driving big lifts in health care productivity.

Why measuring public sector productivity is so slippery

When Productivity Commission researchers examined past assessments of the health system’s productivity earlier this year, they were pleasantly surprised.

  • Tom Burton

September

Australia’s coronavirus commissioners (from left) Robyn Kruk, Professor Catherine Bennett and Angela Jackson.

Australia’s new pandemic playbook

On the eve of the release of the national COVID-19 review, 10 key actions have emerged for when a similar pathogen hits Australia.

  • Tom Burton
When the Albanese government is throwing billions of dollars at its signature Made in Australia scheme, Rupert Taylor-Price says there isn’t an agreed government definition for what it means to be an Australian business.

True blue dilemma: what makes a business Australian?

As the Albanese government prepares to throw billions of dollars at its signature Made in Australia scheme, there is no agreed definition on what makes an Australian business.

  • Tom Burton
NSW Health Pathology has generated $280 million in savings.

How to unlock the productivity power of a forgotten sector

There is a renewed push to get better value from the vast array of government services that make up around 20 per cent of the economy.

  • Tom Burton

August

The Census is meant to provide a snap shot of the nation.

A culture war is the least of the census’ problems. Let’s get rid of it

A ditched plan to include questions about the LGBTQ community in the census has raised questions about the future of the $600 million big five-yearly national survey.

  • Tom Burton
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In January 2021, our report on the Voice’s design and potential models was released for public comment.

The $340m government IT disaster no one cared about

The idea was simple enough: one back-office system to better co-ordinate all government departments. A decade later, the plan has been abandoned at big public expense.

  • Tom Burton
Bill Shorten (right) has worked closely with former NSW Digital minister Victor Dominello (left) to rethink citizen data sharing.

The story behind the click-to-prove revolution

Bill Shorten’s ambitious move to enable an economy wide digital verification system marks a major shift towards giving citizens power over their own data.

  • Tom Burton
NSW Premier Chris Minns wants public servants to work “principally” from the office.

Hybrid working mishmash for 1.7m government workers across Australia

The NSW government’s push for public servants to work from their offices has left a jumble of work arrangements for the nation’s largest employers.

  • Tom Burton
Treasury departments need to rethink digital investments argues former NSW minister Victor Dominello.

Five projects to fix Australia’s productivity woes

The answer to the nation’s sagging productivity is staring us in the face says former NSW minister Victor Dominello.

  • Tom Burton

July

Tech meltdown revealed a fundamental flaw in plain sight

The global CrowdStrike breakdown revealed just how much of the global IT system is built on inherently unsafe code.

  • Tom Burton
Trust in government is declining, and it’s a global trend.

Why competent government is the answer to political extremism

The US has its unique national blind spot for guns, but as two reports on social cohesion and democracy point out, the ingredients of division and extremism have been rising everywhere.

  • Updated
  • Tom Burton
Lack of a strong consumer use case is stymying the sharing of data with fintechs.

Canberra’s $1b digital identity play could be the next white elephant

The failure of open banking and the poor uptake of My Health Record offer a salutary warning for the government’s digital ID system.

  • Tom Burton

May

Australian Energy Regulator chair Clare Savage and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb are two of the country’s most powerful regulators.

They battled blokey workplaces. Now these 33 women enforce the rules

Energy regulator Clare Savage and competition chief Gina Cass-Gottlieb are among 33 women leading Australia’s regulatory bodies, once the domain of male enforcers.

  • Tom Burton
Australia is expected to buy its first Virginia-class submarine in the early 2030s.

The real reason for spending $1b on PsiQuantum

Defence planners have long worried how vulnerable military information systems are to GPS being taken out by an adversary.

  • Tom Burton
Treasury has given itself nearly $55 million over two years to administer, coordinate, and promote the Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda.

Labor’s green superpower plan will need a new public service

Expertise in green hydrogen, photonic quantum physics, large-scale lithium batteries and next-generation mineralogy are not skills you typically see on Canberra CVs.

  • Tom Burton
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There was no sign of big picture thinking from first ministers at this week’s national cabinet.

Nordic paradox: how male resentment fuels domestic abuse

Closing gender pay gaps fuels domestic violence, pointing to the deep challenges to stop the societal scourge.

  • Tom Burton

April

Molly Ticehurst’s alleged murderer, Daniel Billings, was released on bail just weeks ago, after being accused of sexually assaulting her.

The domestic violence red flags the system can’t see

Tragically, domestic homicide of partners is proving to be highly predictable. If only there was the data to show the red flags before violence erupts.

  • Tom Burton
Greens senator Nick McKim was looking for a scalp on Tuesday, and outgoing Woolies boss Brad Banducci was his target.

The Senate’s mock outrage games shame all

Threatening corporate leaders with jail time over an accounting contrivance is part of a trend where the national parliament is becoming a theatre for showboating and mock outrage.

  • Tom Burton
The ease of use and the power of Excel spreadsheets has exposed firms and public agencies to significant risk.

Why government has an Excel problem

Swaths of the public service still have to use tools and manual procedures from the early 1980s, when desktop computing first arrived in government.

  • Tom Burton

March

There is no such thing as safe as houses when it comes to assessing risk for investors in property and sharemarkets.

Could turning laws into code help fix the housing shortage?

Allowing computers to read and interpret laws based on sophisticated rules could revolutionise regulation and the way you interact with government.

  • Tom Burton

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/government-observed-1nly