The Westminster Tradition

• DOGE or GROSS (Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff) 😩: the touchy subject of efficiency in the public service

  Efficiency is in the news ... but what does it mean? How should public servants work on improving efficiency? Should we be focused on system reform, ending whole entitlements, or nibbling at the edges?How to know what kind of budget savings task you are in - deep restructuring or a cyclical contraction / expansion?Is front line v back office a helpful distinction?When are external reviews helpful, and when do they hurt?What is the role of tech in delivering savings?Referenced in the episodeInstitute for Government's reflections on PM Starmer's Rewiring the State agendaSuzanne Heywood "What does Jeremy think? Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain"John Halligan (with Jules Wills) "The Centrelink Experiment"BBC 'Denmark's postal service to stop delivering letters'The NDIS ReviewNow for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!

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• Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 2 'The Employer'

  Surfing a wave of listener feelings about this topic, Danielle takes us through the experience of public service recruitment from the other side.Danielle and Alison argue about the merits of requiring 'in house' recruitment before externally advertising positionsThe role that conservative (perhaps inexpert??) local budget management plays in driving a cycle of vacancies and short term contractsHow complex recruitment processes make the public service less and less like the public we serveEzra Klein's podcast episode In This House, We're Angry When Government FailsThe good, the bad and the ugly of external recruitersNow for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!

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• 🗳️ Election special 🗳️ Caretaker conventions, IGBs and some 🥳 vox pops 🥳

  The starter's gun has gone on Australia's national elections for 2025 and Parliament has been prorogued.In this episode, former head of Cabinet Office and keeper of the Caretaker Conventions, Alison answers Caroline and Danielle's increasingly pointed questions, and we end with arguing about the importance of formatting.Stay tuned to the end for some fabulous insider advice for managing caretaker period and elections as a public servant. This episode is dedicated to the significant birthday of Sandy Pitcher, a public service legend (read more about her here).Intro grab courtesy of the Hon Nat Cook MP, Minister for Human Services (SA).Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!

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• Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 1 'The Applicant'

  Drawing on overwhelming feedback from our listeners, in this episode we unpack the experience of being recruited into the public sector (or ghosted along the way). Danielle takes us throughWhat goes in Role Descriptions (hint: it shouldn't be slabs of legislation)The madness of defined requirements like 'driving' and 'interstate travel' (and whether Caroline's sister can really change a tyre)Alison's idea of an X factor style button for use in interviews when it's immediately clear this isn't working for anyoneWe finish with a listener description of a mad recruitment process that ends with, you guessed, it, ghosting.Thanks to Mary, our mug winner for this episode, for a great story!Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!

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• Oakden aged care scandal part 3 - “Boss on the floor” … or, how bad things stayed secret

  How did the abuse at Oakden remain hidden for so long? And what finally brought it to light?In this episode we discuss:why families might not complainhow small, isolated outposts can hide terrible thingsthe importance of following up on things that don’t feel quite right.Intro grab from the RN Background Briefing episode A Failure to Care: The Oakden Nursing Home, featuring Lorraine Baff, whose father was a patient at Oakden. You can find the full ICAC Report into Oakden here, and the Chief Psychiatrist report here.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!

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