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Today

Senator Richard Colbeck had multiple questions about how Finance handles procurement.

Finance begins training bureaucrats in procurement

The Department of Finance has begun training bureaucrats in how to buy complex goods and services and is also considering creating a specialist procurement career pathway for officials.

  • Edmund Tadros

Yesterday

Miguel Carrasco, Managing Director & Senior Partner from Boston Consulting Group.

Australians unconvinced about AI safety: survey

There is a wide disparity in those who trust AI across different Australian regions, according to a new survey on trust in government services.

  • Tom Burton

February

No other agency in government knows how to deal with multiple vulnerabilities, says Sandy Pitcher, the CEO of the South Australian Human Services department.

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
National secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Melissa Donnelly, said: “Being flexible about how, when and where work is performed where possible is as big an opportunity for employers as it is for employees.”

Bosses ‘nauseated’ as public servants gain unlimited WFH days

The four largest federal government agencies have voted overwhelmingly to end mandatory work-from-office rules as part of an 11.2 per cent pay deal.

  • Tom Burton
Sensitive bidding data from the big four, among others, was released in a Finance Department email stuff-up.

Create consultant ‘name and shame’ register, government urged

The Business Council of Australia wants consulting contracts that have been terminated due to “material breaches” to be tracked and reported publicly.

  • Edmund Tadros
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Sensitive bidding data from the big four, among others, was released in a Finance Department email stuff-up.

Firms fume as Finance hits damage control in pricing email stuff-up

The Finance Department said the confidential pricing it accidentally emailed to 236 consulting firms was old and that bidders didn’t rely on these fees anyway.

  • Edmund Tadros, Tom Burton and Ronald Mizen
The leak of sensitive bidding data was meant to remedy a previous leak of consulting and advisory prices in November.

Confidential big four billing rates accidentally released, again

The bidding prices of the cream of the professional advisory sector have been leaked again, and the federal finance department is in full damage control.

  • Updated
  • Tom Burton

The number of public servants working from home has doubled

Many new employees say flexible conditions contributed to their decision to take a job.

  • Tom Burton
AFR

Parties, staff beauty contests and a ‘god’ dais: How the ATO has changed

Secrecy and privacy were legendary in the closed shop of the Australian Taxation Office where staffers were encouraged to socialise only with their colleagues. But times have changed.

  • Tom Burton
Secretary of the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Adam Fennessy.

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
Natalie James defended the right of public servants to have work-life balance.

Public servants working from home not ‘disconnected’

The head of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations says about one-third of her employees have flexible work arrangements.

  • Tom McIlroy and Cindy Yin
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton

‘No strings attached’ for nearly $1b in federal grants

Almost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money is being paid out annually in government grants that have been awarded without proper competitive assessments.

  • Tom McIlroy
Dr Simon Duffy, director of Citizen Network Research and an international expert on disability support systems.

The Brit who predicted the NDIS disaster a decade ago

Dr Simon Duffy warned a decade ago that the design of the national disability insurance scheme created perverse incentives, leaving it flawed from day one.

  • Tom Burton
NSW Customer Service Department secretary Graeme Head.

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

January

Joe Longo

Special AI laws needed for financial services: Longo

ASIC chairman Joe Longo has laid out a case for special AI rules for financial services, arguing general rules will not be adequate to stop harms.

  • Tom Burton and James Eyers
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Simon Phemister is now a partner at EY Port Jackson Partners.

Former top Victorian public servant joins EY

Simon Phemister has joined its strategy arm to develop a new service providing advice on urban renewal projects.

  • Edmund Tadros
How employers are trying to make workplaces more accessible.

NDIS cost could blow out to $125b a year

The annual bill for the National Disability Insurance Scheme is projected to blow out to more than $125 billion a year by 2034 amid warnings the number of participants could more than double.

  • Tom Burton
Fiona Sugden with Bill Shorten on the 2019 campaign trail.

Albanese recruits senior staffer from Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue

Fiona Sugden is a veteran Labor staffer, having worked in Kevin Rudd’s prime ministerial office.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Social services account for 15 per cent of the economy and cost $348 billion a year to deliver according to the Productivity Commission

Nine months’ wait for a place in aged care

Residential aged care wait times have improved marginally, but still remain three times higher than a decade ago.

  • Tom Burton
  • Analysis
  • AI
Australia is taking a largely hands-off approach to generative AI.

AI plan leaves Australia a digital backwater

Australia has fallen in behind its AUKUS partners, embracing a light-touch, low-key approach to revolutionary AI technology.

  • Tom Burton