Centre for Policy Development's Blog, page 100

GovCampNSW | Sydney, November 19

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GovCamp is an open, 'unconference' style discussion format and aims to simply provide a space to share ideas ranging from eGov, Gov 2.0 and opengov to innovation for public sector resilience.  GovCampNSW is an invitation to be part of an emerging conversation, that may inspire and shape new opportunities for innovation in government in Sydney, in NSW and beyond. It is an opportunity to talk with a mix of people – from inside and outside government, from the worlds of technology and policy, of community and universities – to talk about shaping an agenda for innovation in NSW and to make a start on that agenda.

For details, visit the GovCamp website.

This is a free event and actively supported by Australian and NSW Government agencies including Premier & Cabinet, in particular the NSW Office of the Information Commissioner and Dr Peter Shergold for the NSW Public Service Commission.

GovCampNSW | Sydney, November 16

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GovCamp is an open, 'unconference' style discussion format and aims to simply provide a space to share ideas ranging from eGov, Gov 2.0 and opengov to innovation for public sector resilience.  GovCampNSW is an invitation to be part of an emerging conversation, that may inspire and shape new opportunities for innovation in government in Sydney, in NSW and beyond. It is an opportunity to talk with a mix of people – from inside and outside government, from the worlds of technology and policy, of community and universities – to talk about shaping an agenda for innovation in NSW and to make a start on that agenda.

For details, visit the govcamp website.

This is a free event and actively supported by Australian and NSW Government agencies including Premier & Cabinet, in particular the NSW Office of the Information Commissioner and Dr Peter Shergold for the NSW Public Service Commission.

Public Service in the News | UK's public sector reforms favour private sector, 'Big Society' reforms spread to Eurozone and Canada

UK's Public services white paper favours private sector, says UK's Trades Union Congress > Publishing its response to the coalition's Open public services white paper today, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says that there is a gap between the paper's Big Society ideals and the reality of greater private sector involvement. The TUC says that voluntary sector organisations lost out in an early example of the government's competition plans. Thirty-five of the 40 main contracts awarded under the government's Work Programme went to large private businesses such as Serco and A4e, despite ministers saying that it would create more opportunities for the voluntary sector.

European Commission announces plans for €90m social enterprise fund > The fund aims to "facilitate access to funding for start-up, development and expansion of social enterprises" and invest in other funds that invest in the social enterprise world, in a manner similar to Big Society Capital.

Britain's 'Big Society:' Noble experiment in volunteerism or cynical politics? > Other world leaders have kept a close eye on Mr. Cameron's experiment, and this week Canada announced it would emulate it with a sweeping roster of tax reforms and other measures meant to boost charity's role in the nation's social compact. That comes as a bit of surprise, because Mr. Cameron hasn't made that much progress in his uphill battle to pump up can-do spirit in a country deflated by recession and by cuts that will reduce public-sector spending by 25 per cent.

Federal workers struggle with mantra of 'doing more with less > Now more than ever, federal workers are being told that they will be expected to do "more with less" for the foreseeable future. But what does a leaner government look like in practice?

Axe begins to fall in public service > Nearly 2000 public servants have been offered big payouts to leave the Queensland government under plans to rein in wages bills. Together union secretary Alex Scott, who represents public servants, said there were real questions over potential impacts on workloads and therefore some community services once the workforce was trimmed.

 

Seeking Justice | Discussion of Four Corners report 9 November

What are the options available to the Australian government for a humane approach to processing asylum seekers? Why are we building more detention facilities rather than focusing on moving asylum seekers out of detention?

Be part of the lively Seeking Justice debate on the 9th November and hear from leading experts The Hon Catherine Branson QC, John Menadue AO and Professor Louise Newman AM on their views for the future regarding asylum seekers in Australia.

Seeking Justice is an event aimed to inform, to debate and to raise funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre of NSW.

Seeking Justice panelist Professor Louise Newman spoke out yesterday following the ABC's Four Corners horrifying report on self harm and suicide in detention centres:

"We need to have a radical rethink of the policy of mandatory and indefinite detention…we actually need to adhere to the policy and move out those people with mental health risk factors."

The report revealed shocking evidence for a mental health crisis within detention centres, with detainees informing ABC's Four Corners program that self-harm, suicide attempts and asylum seekers using antidepressants had become the norm

WATCH the Four Corners report here.

Seeking Justice

GILBERT + TOBIN

2 PARK STREET, SYDNEY

6pm – 8pm WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER, 2011

REFRESHMENTS & DRINKS

TICKETS STRICTLY LIMITED SO PLEASE BOOK EARLY.

Payment $80 ($20 for entry and a tax deductible donation of $60)

To make a booking and for further information please contact Meredith Downes

Phone: 02 9361 5606 or Email: development@asylumseekerscentre.org.au

PANELISTS

John Menadue AO

John Menadue AO is a former Australian public servant with a distinguished career in both the private and public sectors.  From 1974-1976 he was Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet where he worked for Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser before moving to Japan as Australian Ambassador.  He returned to Australia in 1980 to take up various departmental head positions including Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, the Department of the Special Minister of State, and the Department of Trade.  John has also been a Director of Telstra, CEO of Qantas, a Director of the NSW State Rail Authority and Chairman of the Australia Japan Foundation.  He is currently a Board Director of the Centre for Policy Development.

The Hon Catherine Branson QC

Catherine Branson was appointed President of the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2008 and in 2009 became the Human Rights Commissioner.  She was previously a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, a position she had held since 1994.  Catherine is a past President of the Australian Institute for Judicial Administration, a member of the International Association of Judges and a member of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges.  She was also Crown Solicitor of South Australia and CEO of the South Australian Attorney-General's Department.

Professor Louise Newman AM

Professor Newman is Director of Developmental Psychiatry at Monash University, and former Director of the NSW Institute of Psychiatry.  She is also Chair of the Detention Expert Health Advisory group, an independent advisory body for health and mental health of asylum seekers, and Convenor of the Alliance of Health Professionals for Asylum Seekers. She is involved in advocacy for the human rights of asylum seekers and particularly for children affected by the policy of mandatory detention.

Facilitator: Professor Ben Saul

Professor Ben Saul is Professor of International Law at the Sydney Centre for International Law, Sydney University, a barrister, internationally recognised as an expert on human rights and terrorism law and President of the Refugee Advice and Casework Service.  He has been involved in human rights cases concerning South Africa, Peru, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Israel and Guantanamo Bay, including before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, United Nations Human Rights Committee, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and Israeli Supreme Court.

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Read the full CPD report, A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate of Refugee & Asylum Seekers here.

A New Approach comprehensively critiques Australia's refugee and asylum policies and finds they are inhumane, ineffective and expensive.

Public Service in the News | NZ citizens are happy with public services, evidence reveals UK's public services are breaking down and UK charities are flailing

There's little charity in the Work Programme > Charities are losing out on contracts to get people into jobs through the government's Work Programme, and vulnerable jobseekers are being sidelined. Two separate surveys published this week by two voluntary sector umbrella groups, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo) and London Voluntary Services Council (LVSC), reveal that charity confidence in WP is at a pitifully low ebb, just four months into the scheme.  Some of the specialist charities who got involved in WP now regret it. Many fear bankruptcy, having been given no business yet from their partner prime contractors (predominantly private companies), who are supposed to refer jobless clients to them. Some primes have not issued contracts to the charities they were happy to co-opt as partners a few months ago, sparking complaints that charities have been cynically used as "bid candy". Several charities have pulled out of WP, believing the contract terms to be financially unsustainable.

Managing in a downturn: tell us how the cuts are affecting you > The chief executive of the Charity Finance Directors Group wants to know how the economic crisis is affecting UK charities. " Our members have reported abrupt ends to valuable projects near completion, the withdrawal of valued, long-established services, poor communication from those holding the purse strings about the future of their funding (negatively impacting on their ability to plan) and also demands – in my opinion some truly absurd ones – aimed at driving down costs. In this MIAD survey, we're hoping to get some hard figures from the data about just how tough things are – an insight into the prospects for localism in practice."


'Infant peer' plays with the big boys > Commons Speaker John Bercow is quietly launching an investigation into the so-called All Party Groups of MPs and peers, who meet to discuss a whole range of issues that concern members, however, this hasn't stopped the hapless Lord Wei from launching his own Far Eastern Business Group.


Canadian Finance Minister sings praises of career in (shrinking) public service >  In a break from his usual speeches, Canadian Finance Minister Mr. Flaherty spoke personally about why public service makes him happier than a higher paying private-sector job ever could.

New D-I-Y services may offer lifeline for villagers >Anyone in UK's rural communities wishing to keep their local library or primary school open, or a local bus route to keep running, could soon find the task falls down to them.  "Oddly, the money exists to invest in new ways of doing things. What is needed is a way to involve the innovative and committed people that care about these places and can find new ways to make things work." There are also practical issues to address – mainly concerning inconsistencies in the number of people willing to step forward and the long-term legacy of Big Society action.

NEW ZEALAND Public happy with cut-down PS > The Government has welcomed the finding as evidence that cutbacks hadn't affected core services, but the Public Service Association (PSA) which represents most Public Servants gives credit to the goodwill of PS employees working extra hours and maintaining standards in the face of difficulty. However it warns that cracks will soon start to show.

Ben Eltham | Sniff this, business lobby: the odourless whiff of defeat

The much awaited carbon tax finally looks to be enacted in Australia. After having been passed through the House of Representatives, the tax is very much expected to pass the Senate and will begin around July next year. Ben Eltham takes a look at the outcome and calls this a huge loss to the business lobbyists who have campaigned so vigorously to cause panic over the proposed taxes.

It's taken many years. Dozens of government reports. Scores of inquiries, committees and discussion papers. But now, at last, Australia is within sight of a price on carbon.

The focus of the past couple of days in Parliament has rightly been on the government, and particularly the Prime Minister, who has now shepherded through the House of Representatives what will almost certainly be an enduring economic and environmental reform.

Make no mistake: this is a serious and long-lasting reform that will be very difficult for the Coalition to undo, even if it were to control the Senate in the next parliament. The inexorable logic of capitalism itself means that Australia's carbon markets, once established, are likely to flourish. Even in the short to medium term, speculators, merchant banks and more far-sighted investors will begin to invest in tree farms and more complicated carbon derivatives. They will create carbon credits. They will own a stake in a carbon economy.

You can continue reading Ben's article in ABC's The Drum here

Ben Eltham | Finally! Labor Governs Like It's Their Job

The governments tax summit and jobs summit are both over and have we learned anything from them? Ben Eltham thinks we have and has written in New Matilda how both of these forums play to labour's strengths. Policy discussion in these areas shows that labour can finally get back to governing.

Frist published in New Matilda here.

Who knew substantial policy discussion would be such a success? The tax and jobs summits showed Labor's strengths and there are now chances to build on this momentum, writes Ben Eltham

It still languishes in the polls, but last week was a good one for the Government.

The Tax Forum, which had been widely written off by many commentators (including me) turned out to be surprisingly constructive. On the back of the tax event, the Government also hosted a one-day jobs summit, which focussed on Australia's troubled manufacturing sector.

The tone of the debate during the three days of high-level policy talks was positive and respectful. Even if no big announcements emerged, a series of small but significant measures were agreed upon. On tax, Treasurer Wayne Swan will work to increase the tax-free threshold to $21,000, effectively cutting the taxes of hundreds of thousands of Australia's low-income earners. There is also a modest but interesting proposal to improve cashflow for struggling businesses, with a "carry back" tax refund that will assist firms making a loss.

Perhaps most importantly, Labor has also broadened the tax conversation, including in difficult areas like raising taxes on the wealthy and eliminating inefficient state imposts. It's not sweeping reform of the sort recommended by Ken Henry's tax review, but it is an important step toward a kinder and gentler political debate — something that Labor proved itself incapable of fostering during the debate about the mining tax last year.

On jobs, the forum focussed on manufacturing, with strong union involvement but considerable policy input, most notably from Barack Obama's manufacturing policy advisor, Andrew Liveris, the President of Dow Chemical. Liveris told the forum that "manufacturing in particular has the power to create jobs and value and growth to a degree that no other sector can — not tourism, not the financial services sector, not any services sector." These positive spillovers flow through the rest of the economy, and therefore require special government policies to encourage manufacturing, he argued. This is an argument you won't hear from the Treasury or the Reserve Bank, and it was warmly received by the sector's cheerleaders, who have had a hard time winning a policy beauty contest against the rampaging investment of the mining sector.

One upshot is that Julia Gillard will chair a prime ministerial taskforce on the manufacturing sector. Another is that the Government will introduce a special tariff concession to investment projects larger than $2 billion that can demonstrate an industry plan to involve Australian suppliers. As Heather Ridout remarked to reporters, it's certainly no "silver bullet", but it will help manufacturers to bid for jobs on big infrastructure projects.

For the Government, the real benefits from the tax and jobs events were political. For months, the Government has been telling us that it is not worried about its manifest unpopularity and is instead getting on with the business of running the country. Unfortunately, no one has been listening. As the screenwriters like to say, the golden rule of narrative is "show, not tell", and that's where the Gillard Government has struggled.

And that's why three days of policy talks worked. Not only did they focus on the economy, Labor's strong suit, but they also eschewed the vicious dogfighting that has marked parliamentary debate in recent months. By gathering high level policymakers in a room and forcing them to discuss and defend their arguments in a calm and deliberative manner, the government has finally been able to show itself getting on with governing.

Of course, it helped that the Opposition decided not to turn up. Then again, the Coalition's credibility when it comes to serious discussions about taxation and budget policy is approaching zero these days, so it's probably better for all concerned that Joe Hockey didn't show. The media attention paid to the forum also had the happy side effect of sidelining Tony Abbott's media stunts. (They still happened, it's just that no-one much reported on them.)

The Government badly needs more tactics to keep Abbott off the television screens. And perhaps they have stumbled upon one, if they could only recognise it. The tax and jobs summits suggest that the Gillard Government might start to claw back some credibility by returning the political debate to concrete and substantial policy discussion. After all, the Coalition has never had much ability to engage in genuine policy debate, and since Tony Abbott has become leader, they haven't had to.

In contrast, the best performing Labor ministers are those, like Greg Combet, who are able to muster a calm and methodical command of their portfolio. And yet, amazingly, Labor has generally struggled to build on this advantage. Instead, the Government has generally attempted to fight the media battle on the same terrain of one-liners and sound-bites that Tony Abbott finds so amenable.

Of course, you could argue that the entire CPRS debate was one about policy minutiae that failed to engage the general public, and you'd be right. Communication is not an either/or proposition, and the Government needs to explain policies on multiple levels: to the wonks and analysts with detailed and substantial discussion papers, to the media with stunts and pic facs, and to the general public with the full suite of social media and mass communication tools.

The Government now has the opportunity to build on last week's momentum with a big week in parliament. It won't be easy. Proceedings in the lower house will be dominated by the carbon tax and a vote about offshore processing, neither of which will be convivial, temperate or polite.

On the other hand, the prospect of getting the carbon tax through the House of Representatives must in itself be heartening for Labor's embattled foot soldiers. For those who still believe, here is an example of a concrete economic and environmental reform that a progressive government is negotiating through a minority parliament — in the teeth of public and corporate opposition.

The carbon tax won't be passed until it clears the Senate, most likely in November. And it is likely to be unpopular with voters for a long time after that. But it is undoubtedly a major policy reform addressing climate change, one which neither John Howard nor Kevin Rudd's governments were able to implement (you can of course argue that they didn't want to).

Labor's membership might be declining and its party structure increasingly moribund. But here, finally, is a major reform which, if implemented, the party faithful can rightly feel proud of.

Mark Bahnisch | The Bolt case: cutting through pontification to find motive

Mark Bahnisch, in ABC's The Drum, analyses the outcome of Andrew Bolt's recent racial discrimination lawsuit. Other commentators on the case have argued that Andrew Bolt's comments should have been charged under defamation laws rather than racial discrimination laws. Mark Bahnisch analyses the merits of both of these approaches and looks at the impact of the decision.

In the plethora of pontification that has proliferated in the wake of Justice Mordecai Bromberg's decision in Eatock v. Bolt, advice to the plaintiffs has been freely on offer. Almost unanimously, commentators have suggested that the complainants, rather than bringing an action under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, ought rather to have brought an action for defamation. Interestingly, and significantly, this sentiment has been articulated across the spectrum – by journalists and lawyers, and by political commentators and activists of both left and right.

Also significantly, and equally as interestingly, there are very few voices to be found defending the substance and content of Andrew Bolt's columns on "light skinned Aborigines", while many raise the tattered banner of freedom of speech.

You can find the original article here in ABC's The Drum.

 

CPD at Aprecon

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CPD's public service research team enjoyed participating in 'People First' – the 12th Regional Asia Pacific Aprecon public service conference, spruiking our research and publications.  We had interesting discussions with international delegates from the Asia Pacific region on how public service trends are effecting their communities. We were intrigued to hear that, despite the diversity of social contexts that delegates come from, they spoke of many of the same challenges and pressures.  People were impressed and interested by our research and share our interest in Big Society as the emerging and overlooked agenda for public sector reform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Public Service in the News | UK public funding travelling in and out of loopholes and US county to legalise Domestic Violence

Youth clubs' rescue 'vindicates Big Society idea' > UK government cuts funding to youth community services,  after community outrage and hours of workers' time and efforts to apply for funding, UK Conservative government now condescends to to fund youth community services through 'Big Society

Public sector cuts: 'I had to sack a third of my staff' > What does it feel like to to have to make cuts of 30% in public services and tell hardworking colleagues they no longer have a job? Here, a senior manager tells of her experience.

> The nascent social investment market must not allow itself be misappropriated by companies masquerading as social enterprises, says Andrew Hind. What if the social enterprise was a for-profit franchise of an international pizza chain focused on providing employment for the long-term unemployed? Would we feel as positive about that?

Tories 'know value of nothing' says Labour over charity cuts > A scathing critique has been delivered on a Tory council for "knowing the value of nothing" and putting David Cameron's vision of the 'Big Society' in reverse. UK's Wycombe Labour Party's leader this week lambasted Conservatives at Wycombe District Council over cuts to charities in the area.

Editorial: $20-million contract must lead to leaner federal civil service > On first blush, the federal government's hiring of auditor Deloitte Inc. for $20 million to help cut about $4 billion from $80 billion in annual program spending seems to defeat the purpose of the cost-saving exercise. By our count, there are nearly 6,000 staff auditors in the bureaucracy whose expertise could be called upon during this department-by-department strategic and operating review.

Topeka to Legalize Domestic Violence? > Victims of domestic violence are left without legal protection as public servants battle for funding and jurisdictional technicalities.