This Month
- Analysis
- Public service
Hybrid working mishmash for 1.7m government workers across Australia
The NSW government’s push for public servants to work from their offices has left a jumble of work arrangements for the nation’s largest employers.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Victor Dominello
Five projects to fix Australia’s productivity woes
The answer to the nation’s sagging productivity is staring us in the face says former NSW minister Victor Dominello.
- Tom Burton
July
- Analysis
- Enterprise IT
Tech meltdown revealed a fundamental flaw in plain sight
The global CrowdStrike breakdown revealed just how much of the global IT system is built on inherently unsafe code.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Democracy
Why competent government is the answer to political extremism
The US has its unique national blind spot for guns, but as two reports on social cohesion and democracy point out, the ingredients of division and extremism have been rising everywhere.
- Updated
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Open banking
Canberra’s $1b digital identity play could be the next white elephant
The failure of open banking and the poor uptake of My Health Record offer a salutary warning for the government’s digital ID system.
- Tom Burton
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
- Analysis
- Analysis
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
- Analysis
- Analysis
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
- Analysis
- Analysis
Nordic paradox: how male resentment fuels domestic abuse
Closing gender pay gaps fuels domestic violence, pointing to the deep challenges to stop the societal scourge.
- Tom Burton
April
- Analysis
- Analysis
The domestic violence red flags the system can’t see
Tragically, domestic homicide of partners is proving to be highly predictable. If only there was the data to show the red flags before violence erupts.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Public service
The Senate’s mock outrage games shame all
Threatening corporate leaders with jail time over an accounting contrivance is part of a trend where the national parliament is becoming a theatre for showboating and mock outrage.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Government IT
Why government has an Excel problem
Swaths of the public service still have to use tools and manual procedures from the early 1980s, when desktop computing first arrived in government.
- Tom Burton
March
- Analysis
- Digital transformation
Could turning laws into code help fix the housing shortage?
Allowing computers to read and interpret laws based on sophisticated rules could revolutionise regulation and the way you interact with government.
- Tom Burton
January
Australia’s best and worst government websites ranked
A push to improve access and make content easier to find has resulted in a major improvement in government website rankings, with one surprising result.
- Tom Burton
December 2023
- Analysis
- Public service
Why scammers and streamers are in the government’s sights
After years of delay, the government has quietly agreed to a suite of new powers and tools to deal with bad behaviour from the big digital platforms.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Public service
Glyn Davis wants the public service to surrender control
The federal public sector boss wants to flip big government and put the locals in charge. He admits it will not be easy.
- Tom Burton
November 2023
- Analysis
- Analysis
How to avoid another Canberra tech wreck
The ditching of a new $400 million back office system yet again reveals the federal government’s deeply flawed approach to technology and digital transformation.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Cybersecurity
Australia’s watered-down cybersecurity regime is laughable
Despite ballooning cyber intrusions and rampant data breaches, scams and identity theft, policymakers and ministers have continued to rely on voluntary efforts.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Public service
How big is Australia’s public sector?
It is passing strange that for the biggest employer in the land we have struggled to be able to measure the exact size of the public sector.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Digital transformation
Why passwords will soon be a thing of the past
New pass-key technology on the myGov portal should turbocharge banks, health insurers, telcos and airlines to do the same.
- Tom Burton
