Government Business
Redundancies the hot topic
The first Public Service Gazette of the new financial year usually features a long list of the dearly departed under the heading “retirement/termination of employment”.
Canberra insider
The long-awaited whistleblower legislation is back on the agenda to be introduced into the House of Representatives in the winter sittings of Parliament.
Tight as a drum
Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation is resorting to crushing nuclear waste into tiny, highly compressed blocks encased in concrete so it can continue to store low-level nuclear waste in the heart of southern Sydney at Lucas Heights.
Call of the wild
The federal government plans to make more comprehensive promotional use of Australia’s regional landscapes using a program that first emergid in December 2006.
Navy floats fleet maintenance unit
In the wake of last year’s critical Rizzo report into naval maintenance, the Australian Navy will establish a new organisation, called fleet support unit, to consolidate and reorganise ship repair and management practices.
Strong roots grow solid policy
While good policy can never be fully protected against the ravages of politics, the more substantial its foundation, the better chance it has.
Canberra insider
The new secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Carol Mills, will start on May 28 when outgoing secretary Alan Thompson retires.
Parliament House staff bullied, inquiry told
Australia's Parliament House has a "toxic" culture in which staff are regularly bullied and cronyism is common, a Senate committee hearing in Canberra has heard.
Public service glitters
Former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Michael L’Estrange, in his contribution to the new online book With the benefit of hindsight, says he has never subscribed to the view that Australia has experienced a lost “golden age” of public service.
Behind the Yes, Minister scene
The Australian National University’s online press, ANU E Press, has produced a collection of valedictory speeches given by department secretaries from 2004 to 2011.
Recruiting researchers to check veterans’ claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking for a panel of military researchers to check out events relating to compensation and disability pension claims from military personnel and their dependents, in cases where existing resources in government agencies are not sufficient to determine claimant eligibility.
NBN gets access to address data
The national broadband network will be aided by the geocoded national address file, a key databank.
Tourism gets an indigenous makeover
A conference in Darwin has formulated plans to carve out a greater role for indigenous people and organisations in promoting tourism experiences in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia.
Canberra insider
PwC has released Fighting Fraud in the Public Sector II, a report based on responses from 184 public sector entities, including 16 in Australia, to PwC’s Global Economic Crime Survey 2011.
Playing the numbers game
How do I cut thee? Let me count the ways. First and most obvious is the 4 per cent in efficiency dividend savings that most federal civilian agencies must find from their operating costs next financial year.
Indigenous experiences to boost tourism
A Pacific area conference in Darwin has formulated plans to carve out a greater role for indigenous peoples and organisations in promotion of tourism experiences.
Gillard blasts WA treasurer for blaming GST
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has blasted the West Australian Treasurer Christian Porter for blaming budget cuts on falling goods and services tax revenue, saying if he is not prepared to do the “hard work of government” he should stand down.
ASIC unifies online business registry
ASIC will celebrate one signal victory in the long battle to rationalise Australia’s tangled thicket of business regulations with a roadshow to publicise its upcoming new national business names registration service.
Nanotechnology study sought in nanoseconds
A Commonwealth department may have set a record for a formal tender in the speed with which it wants a survey assignment to be completed.
Call for unified map data network
Australia is still lagging badly in providing a comprehensive, detailed and nationwide network of spatial data which is essential in most areas of government, according to an industry group.
Finance on reform warpath
There is little love lost between the federal Department of Finance and Deregulation and the rest of the Australian Public Service – especially a few weeks out from a desperate budget.
Canberra insider
Contracting contracts; Crime of inconsistency; Like moving mountains.
Fearlessly turning the lens on the spies
The two reports published this year by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, [IGIS] Vivienne Thom, both represent a big step forward in accountability and transparency.
Canberra insider: Window on the spies
Glean a taste of life inside ASIO after the September 11, 2001 attacks from the report of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Vivienne Thom, into the detention of Mamdouh Habib.
Website showcases the army
The Australian army has launched an official army website to showcase what it has to offer, with soldiers that rotate 360 degrees, videos and images and information on the proposed force restructure Plan Beersheba.
Innovation wave passing us by
Australia is likely to miss out on the urgently-needed creation of new multi-billion dollar industries essential to maintain prosperity and complement the mining boom, according to a successful Australian-born Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
Human Services unifies satisfaction surveys
The Federal Government is pressing ahead with measures to harmonise the disparate medley of customer satisfaction surveys inherited by the new Department of Human Services.
Canberra Insider
Work on former Treasury secretary Ken Henry’s Australia in the Asian Century white paper appears to be proceeding apace. .
How secretary pay is rising
The Remuneration Tribunal finally signed off last week on the new classification system and six phased pay rises for all the department secretaries.
Telcos poised for cloud gains
Given the move to internet-based computing services, government departments should be planning for much more availability of value-added services from telecommunications organisations in 2012.
