A public service for the public good
What do we want our public service to be?
“Public servants are experts in their field, empowered to give frank and fearless advice”
Pillar 8: A thriving democracy, vision for an Australia reMADE
A thriving democracy requires that our democratic institutions are oriented to serve the public good.
In 2024 we began to ask people “what should the purpose of the public service be, and who should it serve?”. The conversations were full of the thrill of potential, frustration, excitement, and deep thought and consideration.
Our initial discussion paper is now available. We explore what people think the purpose of the public service should be, and lay out some questions to help us understand what has to happen to bring this purpose to life.
We heard that:
People want a public service that cares for people and place by creating contexts for communities to thrive in, understanding and pre-empting challenges, meeting individual needs and acting as a safety net during individual or collective crises.
People want a public service that acts as an enabler for people to participate in their own democracy by ensuring transparency of process, trusting the expertise present in communities and enabling communities to care for each other and themselves.
In essence, we collectively imagined a public service that is Wise, Warm and Willing.
At Australia reMADE we’ve been thinking about the importance of a public service oriented to the public good for some time and we know that we’re in a moment of possibility.
The moment
We are seeing very publicly the devastating impacts of a public service gone wrong (think Robodebt and the PwC/Big Consulting debacle).
We have a country at increasing risk of social, economic and environmental disruption. Preliminary findings in our work on Care through Disaster suggest that to face the challenges ahead we need to remake the relationship between community and the state and to understand just what it is that we want government to do.
We have a government and a Public Service Commissioner ready and willing to reform the public service (at the very least they are acknowledging the value of the independent 2018 Thodey Review of the public service in their reform processes).
We have a public eager to participate and take responsibility to truly collaborate (see our work on the public good).
We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Associate Professor Dr Russell Ayres from the University of Canberra, and financially supported by Mannifera as we work with public servants, citizens and civil society to remake the public service for the public good. As a part of this work we will be hosting:
A series of conversations connecting civil society with the public service and the government's own reform process;
Community conversations inviting members of the public to help reimagine what the public service can be;
Facilitated conversations within organisations, so you can approach these questions in ways that are most relevant to your work and expertise.
More information and inspiration
Our public good project builds on our report - “Reclaiming our Purpose: It’s time to talk about the public good”.
Alone Australian or the nation we want?
After the success of Alone Australia, I’ve had a great idea for a new reality TV show.
What do we want the public service to be?
Recently we’ve seen what happens when a public service fails to do its job…
Unravelling + reMAKING the public good
Unravelling and then reMAKING the public good is not something to be done alone or at high speed…
The Trouble with
Big Consultant
The outsourcing of our government business has disempowered and de-skilled our public service.
The public service for the public good
I’m a born and bred Canberran. You’d think the soup of the public service would run in my veins.
Government can do amazing things
But what I’m most excited about at the moment is the idea of a Future Generations Commissioner.
Podcast
with Sophie Howe
Meet Sophie Howe, the world’s first ever Commissioner for Future Generations.