April
The four Cs: How to rebuild a department after robo-debt
Considered one of Canberra’s best leaders, former navy chief Ray Griggs is now Department of Social Services secretary, helping to rebuild culture after a damning royal commission.
- Tom Burton
March
How ‘deliberate reflection’ and being a ‘list zealot’ help this leader
Competition expert Professor Caron Beaton-Wells runs up to eight lists on her phone and manages them ruthlessly. “That immediately makes me feel like it’s all manageable”.
- Tom Burton
February
Battler for the underdog on being the department of last resort
South Australia has long been a leader in innovative social policy and services. After a series of leadership roles in Victoria and SA, Sandy Pitcher wants her staff to take pride in being the place the most vulnerable can turn to.
- Tom Burton
Why the agriculture secretary needs mediation and a ‘big fat novel’
It’s Adam Fennessy’s second stint as an agriculture secretary. He shares his best leadership tips, how to embrace digital transformation and what he looks for when hiring.
- Tom Burton
How nursing prepared this government leader
Newly appointed NSW Customer Service secretary Graeme Head learnt how to work in fast-changing workplaces as an emergency nurse at Sydney’s RPA Hospital.
- Tom Burton
December 2023
The man maximising every dollar of Victoria’s public coffers
Victoria’s new Treasury secretary Chris Barrett explains why he switched from consulting to the public service and reveals the best thing he learnt from studying at Princeton.
- Tom Burton
‘Heart not head’: What drives the woman reforming the NDIS
Rebecca Falkingham on the two women who changed her life, the best career advice she got, and how kicking a soccer ball with her kids is her “meditation”.
- Tom Burton
Meet the ex-Deloitte partner overhauling the IR system
Ex-Deloitte partner Natalie James doesn’t plan to emulate a consulting firm at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, but she refuses to give up some habits.
- Ronald Mizen
November 2023
Michael Coutts-Trotter’s best advice for the young and ambitious
The NSW Treasury secretary explains how to test decisions, work with political staffers, the best way to build a career – and his love of steel-cut oats.
- Tom Burton
The woman at the heart of your data protection
Amid rapid technology change, federal privacy and information commissioner Angelene Falk has had to learn how to anticipate the harmful effects on consumers.
- Tom Burton
A top spy shares her best career advice for success
The woman running one of Australia’s key intelligence agencies is not a morning person, schedules meetings after 9.30am, and most fears the threat from within.
- Tom Burton
October 2023
Election boss Tom Rogers on how social media changed democracy
The Australian Electoral Commissioner, fresh from delivering the Voice referendum, explains why taking risks and having a crack is the best career advice.
- Ronald Mizen
How consulting made Blair Comley a better public servant
The incoming Health Department boss has helped reform the GST, design Kevin Rudd’s carbon reduction scheme and Julia Gillard’s carbon tax. He answers our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
Meet the top tax bureaucrat who can’t stand liars
Tax Inspector-General and Tax Ombudsman Karen Payne talks about what big law can teach the APS and her love of Ennio Morricone, in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
September 2023
How the 80:20 rule makes Danielle Wood more productive
The incoming boss shares her defining career moments, best advice, love of authors Anna Funder and Zadie Smith and her plans for change in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
Why being a nurse and working for Kevin Rudd changed Steven Kennedy
The Treasury Secretary shares his defining career moments, best advice, love for alternative Australian music from the 1980s in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen