This Month
Men still winning the best-paid federal jobs
The Commonwealth public sector leads the private sector on gender equity, but women still earn $19,000 less on average.
- Tom Burton
Fights over pay rises challenge a bold prediction in NSW budget
A $10.7 billion windfall from soaring property taxes will pay for more public servants but won’t stop NSW posting deficits for nine straight years and risking its AAA credit rating.
- Updated
- John Kehoe and David Marin-Guzman
Consultants to lose $5.76b of UK government work
Public sector consultants are under attack in the UK, following a pullback on their use by the Australian government.
- Simon Foy
- Opinion
- Regulation
The man who made economic rationalism popular
Working out how to lower his household water bill set Professor Tom Parry on the road to lowering prices for electricity, water and transport in NSW.
- Michael Easson
- Updated
- Disability
‘Too late to prosecute’: Fraud rife among NDIS managers
The integrity chief for the NDIS says nine out of 10 plan managers surveyed showed “significant indicators of fraud” including using scheme money for drugs and alcohol.
- Tom Burton
This tiny government office is gunning for the big four
The nascent group says it can’t keep up with demand for its services, and will assist the Defence Department as it sets up its own consulting division.
- Maxim Shanahan
May
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
Anti-vax claims flood Senate inquiry. Officials say they’re wrong
The ABS, Health Department and actuaries say there is no evidence to support claims there were more deaths from non-COVID causes due to government vaccine mandates during the pandemic.
- Tom Burton
Crisis-focused Home Affairs fails to prepare for security threats
A review of the $6.3 billion Home Affairs department has found it is too focused on crisis management, and lacks the trust of other key intelligence agencies.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Government Observed
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
NDIS reforms can’t wait for a ‘magical unicorn day’: Shorten
Disability Minister Bill Shorten says premiers should stop using disabled people as a political football, after the states called for delays to NDIS reforms.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Government Observed
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
Contractors in the firing line as public service headcount soars
The number of bureaucrats has increased nearly 10 per cent in one year alone and some $1.8 billion has been allocated to overhaul staffing at Services Australia.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Why headcount matters when it comes to budgets
As any finance chief will attest, the number of bums on seats tells you most of what you need to know about an organisation’s underlying size and costs.
- Tom Burton
Size of Victorian government to be cut for first time in 15 years
Tight control over salaries and operating expenses will result in reduced average expenditure of 2.2 per cent over forward estimates.
- Tom Burton
Domestic violence rates fall over decades but one stat hasn’t changed
The rate of women killed by their partners has fallen by two-thirds over the past 34 years, but women remain twice as likely as men to be victims of intimate partner homicide.
- Tom Burton
Treat violent men like terrorists or gangsters, experts say
Swift sanctions, including jail, are needed to stop domestic violence, say researchers, who argue no amount of “respectful relationships training” will stop some men.
- Tom Burton
April
- Opinion
- National security
Pezzullo takes first step to redemption
The former Home Affairs secretary admitted his mistakes and accepted his disgrace, and knows he will not be working with the Commonwealth for some time.
- Tom Burton
Federal contract bidders will need to hit sustainability targets
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said government departments would use their purchasing power to reduce waste and promote recycling, part of new reporting rules.
- Tom McIlroy
- Opinion
- Workplace culture
Taxpayers should be furious over public service’s ‘ghost’ offices
On a recent Friday in Canberra, a deflated public servant friend revealed that there were only three people at work on a floor space that can seat 30 to 40.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
