As an adviser, you may liaise with public service officials even more than you speak to your minister. This guide explains how you can work with departmental staff effectively.

This research has revealed the key characteristics needed in a modern public service, with priorities ranging across leadership, digital service delivery, workforce development, cross-departmental integration, and citizen trust. The report found that relationships between civil servants and ministers are becoming increasingly strained, with populist politics often making it difficult to speak truth to power.

Ministerial staff in South Australia are appointed outside merit-based recruitment processes and do not undergo thorough pre-employment screening or security checks, leaving the government exposed to significant corruption risks. This report makes recommendations to the Premier to improve weaknesses in the governance of ministerial staff.

This paper outlines legislative proposals that have not yet been prominent among those advanced by the Australian Government. Its purpose 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...

Operation Watts was the first joint investigation conducted by IBAC and the Victorian Ombudsman. It scrutinised how branch stacking in the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) resulted in the alleged misuse of public funds for party political purposes, and subversion of parliamentary standards and processes. This report sets out the steps taken...