Reform of Australian Government Administration

In early September 2009—actually, on the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II—the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, announced the formation of an Advisory Group on the Reform of Australian Government Administration. The group, chaired by Terry Moran, asked for submissions from interested parties and released a discussion paper as a starting point from which people interested in making submissions might develop their ideas.

In total, 173 individuals, groups and organizations—including several Australian government departments—made open submissions, all of which are available for viewing on the website of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Angela O’Brien-Malone and I made a joint submission focussing on the need for the Australian Public Service (APS) to have personnel with expertise in the evaluation of evidence from the social sciences if it (i.e., the APS) is to be capable of being a rational advocate of evidence-based policy to the government of the day. If you are interested, you can download a PDF copy of our submission here.

Contributors: Mark R. Diamond