This report follows on from the report published last year entitled 2020 hindsight: the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NSW Ombudsman's aim has been to look back on the second year of the pandemic and provide an account of what has been...

Public servants and the general public should be able to have confidence that public service appointments are made based on merit. This report seeks to address specific problems arising in two recent recruitment processes, as well as making recommendations for system-wide change to bolster the...

This document outlines the strategic role commissioning will play in transforming the delivery of community services in Western Australia.

Throughout this inquiry, the Committee heard about many barriers preventing culturally diverse older people from accessing the services they need when they need them. This report draws upon comprehensive evidence received from expert stakeholders and people with lived experience to make 61 findings and 76...

This report examines the merits of the Victorian government's decision to invest in the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project, as part of their overall 'Big Build' infrastructure policy.

This review aspires to influence a cultural shift, which encourages openness from the top, starting with Cabinet processes and a resulting shared focus on identifying and dealing with the challenges Queensland faces.

This report makes 19 recommendations to bring grants administration into line with best practice. In addition to feedback from 26 stakeholder groups, the review considered grants administration guidelines from comparable jurisdictions, best practice risk assessment and assurance frameworks, and the existing New South Wales policy...

This audit investigated if Victorian government advertising campaigns comply with the Public Administration Act 2004 and if they cost-effective.

This inquiry was a first for the New South Wales Legislative Council, ensuring that parliamentary scrutiny of the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic continued at various times in 2020, 2021 and 2022 when the Legislative Council itself was either unable or not scheduled to...

This research highlights how the powers of detention in the Victorian government’s pandemic management legislation could be struck down for being incompatible with the Australian Constitution.

The backdrop to the forthcoming federal and state budgets for 2022/23 is that Australia’s public debt has increased sharply during the pandemic since 2019 — and is projected to increase further. This report provides an update of measures of Australia’s public debt based on mid-year...

This inquiry’s terms of reference asked the Committee to examine the adequacy of Commonwealth support for Victoria, specifically Victoria’s GST share and the impact of the end of the no-worse-off guarantee.

After 12 months of collaboration that brought together thought leaders from industry, unions, governments, the community and educational institutions from across Victoria, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has published this summit playbook.

The Victorian government delivers a wide range of services that are vital for Victorians’ economic, financial and social wellbeing. It is important that the government can keep these services running during a disruption. This audit investigated if business continuity arrangements enabled the continuation of essential...

The Northern Territory government is seeking stakeholder and public feedback on this position paper, which sets the vision, purpose and implementation pathways to prioritise government investment in infrastructure.

The NSW Government’s first digital strategy spoke of the need for government to be ‘digital by design’ and ‘digital by default'. This report is about the shift toward machine technologies, a term used for the broad range of digital and data enabled systems and processes...

In this report, the IPA's Morgan Begg argues that the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021, introduced by the Andrews Government into the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 26 October, is a demand for power that is unprecedented in Australia’s peacetime history.

This position paper argues that in order to create fit-for-purpose permanent pandemic legislation in Victoria, a suite of interconnected and mutually-reinforcing amendments are required.

Through a broad overview of what works and what doesn’t and three detailed case studies dealing with aged care, COVID responses and the Victorian roads maintenance sector, this report shows that the Australian experience of privatisation, outsourcing and contracting of essential government services and Public...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused Australia’s first recession in a generation. In Victoria, the second wave of COVID-19 infections and subsequent extended stay-at-home orders, and other public health restrictions needed to actively suppress the virus, has extended that economic downturn longer than other States and Territories.