Writer
Andrew Podger
Andrew Podger is honorary Professor of Public Policy at The Australian National University, and former Australian Public Service Commissioner and Secretary of the Departments of Health and Aged Care, Housing and Regional Development, and Administrative Services. He was national president of the Institute of Public Administration Australia from 2004 to 2010, and a member of the foundation board of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2004, and has written extensively on social policy including health financing, retirement incomes and tax and social security, and on public administration.
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COVID 19 Response Inquiry Report: A comprehensive review despite its limited terms of reference
My recent review of the book, Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism, by Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden (H&H) highlighted its ‘convincing, frank and honest account’ in just over 200 pages, and encouraged the Health Department in particular to listen to its lessons. The official COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report by Robyn Kruk, Catherine Bennett and Angela Jackson ( Continue reading »
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Health Department: Listen to these lessons from our COVID 19 experience
A review of Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden, Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race, UNSW Press Continue reading »
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‘Fairness and balance’ in P&I reporting on the Middle East
Discussion about the Middle East is difficult. Conflicting views are deeply held and even reasonable people struggle to speak, and to listen, dispassionately and with respect. Continue reading »
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The APSC’s Robodebt code of conduct inquiry: too little, too late and not convincing
Those thousands of Australians so terribly damaged by Robodebt are unlikely to be satisfied by the Robodebt Centralised Code of Conduct Inquiry Report or the associated statement last Friday by the APS Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer. Nor should the public service or the general public. Nor even those who were investigated. Continue reading »
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Rebuilding public service from politicisation and externalisation
Restoring trust and integrity in the Australian Public Service requires tackling the corrosive effects of past politicisation (secretary contracts) and externalisation (professional consultants) that have undermined capacity and independence, as highlighted by the Royal Commission on Robodebt fiasco, and parliamentary committee revelations around the extensive engagement of major consulting firms. Continue reading »
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NSW dilutes protection against politicisation
NSW, like Victoria before it, is demonstrating once again that the dangers of politicisation do not lie with just one side of politics. Continue reading »
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APS integrity reforms could have a big impact
There is reason to believe that genuine integrity reform – even just insistence on obeying the law – would have a big impact. Not just on the operation of the APS but on the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public. Continue reading »
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A serious reform package that should attract wide support
The proposals set out in the discussion paper released last week are intended to offer a coherent and comprehensive package to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and capacity of the APS and its integrity. The burning platform of Robodebt and other recent public administration failures provide this once-in-a-generation opportunity for genuine and lasting reform, one that Continue reading »
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Restoring integrity to the Australian Public Service
The purpose of this paper is to help promote discussion about the ways in which the efficiency, effectiveness and capability of the Australian Public Service (APS) and its integrity can be improved, and the standing of the APS as a key institution in Australia’s democratic system can be restored. Continue reading »
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Pezzullo and Campbell demonstrate the need to review the APS values
Mike Pezzullo’s mea culpa should convince no-one that he understands the seriousness of his breaches of the Code of Conduct or the responsibilities that go with being a departmental secretary. Continue reading »
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Changing mindsets: From wealth creation to delivering retirement incomes
Australia’s superannuation system is based upon defined contributions, largely because that avoids the main weakness of many overseas systems based on defined benefits of rising costs for future generations. Continue reading »
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Accountability demands putting it in writing
The APS Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer, included some surprising comments when speaking at The Mandarin’s ‘Rebuilding Trust and Integrity in the APS’ conference last week. Continue reading »
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Albanese’s proposal doesn’t fix bracket creep for low income earners
The Albanese Government’s proposed change to the Stage 3 tax cuts is clearly a broken promise; or, put another way, where was the political courage to offer an alternative when Stage 3 was announced (well ahead of the 2022 election)? But for the purposes of this analysis, let’s put those genuine integrity issues aside. Continue reading »
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Holding senior public servants to account
A central question the Joint Committee on Public Accountability and Audit is pursuing in its inquiry into probity and ethics in the Commonwealth public sector is how to hold individual public servants to account for the failures so often being found in ANAO reports and those of other inquiries. Must we have a Royal Commission Continue reading »
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Politicalisation is a bipartisan problem: Victoria’s Labor Government joins the club
The most disappointing part of the Victorian Ombudsman’s report on alleged politicisation of the public sector is the ‘nothing to see here’ response by the Secretary of the Premier’s Department, Jeremi Moule. Perhaps this is not surprising given Victoria, like so many other jurisdictions in recent years, has appointed someone closely associated with the First Continue reading »
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Serious reform now firmly on the agenda
The good news from Katy Gallagher’s second progress report on APS Reform presented at ANU last week is that there will be a second Public Service Act Amendment Bill in the new year containing much more substantive reform than the disappointing Bill before the Parliament at the moment. Continue reading »
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The Pezzullo affair: Time to clarify APS values and responsibilities
Glyn Davis may have been ‘shocked’ by the Pezzullo revelations but, as several other observers have noted, many other people inside and outside the public service were not really surprised. Continue reading »
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Engaging with China despite rising tensions
The challenges of engagement when international tensions rise go beyond defence and security considerations. The benefits, however, are vitally important and deserve continued investment. It is essential therefore to consider carefully the terms of engagement – the sometimes conflicting principles that should guide engagement. Continue reading »
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Pezzullo story points to serious systemic problems in the APS
The revelations in the Nine newspapers that Mike Pezzullo, secretary of the powerful Home Affairs department, shared with Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs are certainly extraordinary. But, just like the revelations about Robodebt from the royal commission, they must not be treated as an isolated case but as evidence of serious systemic problems in the Continue reading »
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MOP(S) Act Amendment Bill: Much to commend but critical omissions too
There is a lot more substance to the Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bill now before the Parliament than the Public Service Act Amendment Bill. But, once again, a key reform proposed by the Thodey Review and endorsed by the Robodebt Royal Commission is missing. Continue reading »
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Balancing responsiveness and independence: Another view
Frank and fearless advising is certainly a function of character as Peter Shergold said in 2007, a line Mike Keating endorses in his recent article in Pearls and Irritations, but I still believe firmly that it is also a function of the limited tenure of departmental secretaries as I argued with Shergold in the pages Continue reading »
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‘Merit’ is the forgotten fundamental APS value
It is dispiriting that the Public Service Act Amendment Bill now before the Parliament says so little about ‘merit’. Nothing about secretary appointments and terminations and only a minor grammatical change to clarify that ministers are not able to direct agency heads about individuals’ employment. Continue reading »
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Campbell’s AUKUS appointment was probably justified
Criticism of Kathryn Campbell’s appointment a year ago to a $900,000 a year job to assist with implementation of the AUKUS agreement is mostly based on hindsight following the adverse comments about her performance in DHS and DSS by the Robodebt Royal Commission. To be fair to those who made that decision, it is important Continue reading »
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‘Accountability’ of the Public Service: The Robodebt Royal Commission highlights personal responsibilities
The Robodebt Royal Commission makes clear that the APS Value, ‘accountability’, is not just aspirational: individual public servants have duties and failing to meet them should have serious consequences. Continue reading »
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Refer the Public Service Act Amendment Bill to a Senate Committee
Last Thursday (14 June), the Government tabled its Public Service Act Amendment Bill 2023 in the House of Representatives. The Bill is almost exactly the same as the exposure draft which was released by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on 22 May with consultation ending on 31 May. Continue reading »
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Consultants like PwC are loyal to profit, not the public. Governments should cut back on using them
The PwC scandal reveals appalling behaviour by an individual consultant and his company that provided consulting services to the federal government. Continue reading »
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Government’s response to Thodey: long on rhetoric, short on substance
My recent stocktake of the state of play on implementation of the Thodey Report recommendations was written just before PM&C released details of proposed changes to the Public Service Act with an exposure draft of the legislation and an exposure draft of explanatory materials. Extraordinarily, consultation on the changes ends on 31 May but these Continue reading »
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Thodey recommendations a year into Albanese’s watch
At his valedictory event, former APS Commissioner, Peter Woolcott, suggested that the Government and APS leadership were now pursuing ‘Thodey on steroids’. Some have endorsed that view referring to the partnership between Glyn David and Gordon de Brouwer as the ‘dream team’, now further consolidated by de Brouwer’s appointment as the new APS Commissioner. Continue reading »
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Tax cuts and JobSeeker – a different view
There is understandable disappointment that the Government did not do more to improve the adequacy of JobSeeker, with many highlighting how this could have been done by scrapping the Stage 3 tax cuts. But the revenues from scrapping Stage 3 are not as great as most commentators suggest; and, though the Budget’s welfare measures provide Continue reading »
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A comprehensive approach to APS values and codes of conduct
In a recent submission to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s (PM&C’s) public service reform team, Paddy Gourley, Helen Williams and I support stronger action to improve the capability of the APS and its standing as an institution, but do not support adding ‘stewardship’ to the APS Values. Stewardship is a responsibility of ministers Continue reading »
