QUARTERLY • INTERVIEWS • OPINIONS • IDEAS DECEMBER 2008 - ISSN 1327-9149

Magazine of the Institute of Public Administration Australia - Queensland

NAL IN
S S I O
PRO FE
U N G
A YO

PRIORITIES & FACILITATING THE FUTURE

PITFALLS ORGANISATIONAL OF MANAGEMENT
The Queensland CHANGE Gary Hamel
Public Sector The Role of Communication >> page 12
>> page 16 >> page 6
 +1
,/ ,9 UÊ / ,6 7-ÊUÊ"* " -ÊUÊ
- 
 , 2008 - ISSN 1327-9149

Magazine of the Institute of Public Administration Australia - Queensland

AL IN
FE SSION
N G PRO
A YOU

CONTENTS
CONTENTS

Welcome to the December issue of Public Interest

*,",/ -ÊEÊ 

/
/ Ê / Ê1/1, Ê
*/
- ",
-
/"
Ê "Ê

  /
The Queensland

 Gary Hamel
Public Sector The Role of Communication >> page 12
>> page 15 >> page 6

From the President 3 Tucker’s Box 24

From the CEO 4 YP Update 26

IPAA Queensland IPAA Queensland Update 27

Annual General Meeting 2008 5

Meet Your Council 5

The Role of Communications in A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL IN

Organisational Change 6

Getting Engaged:
Stakeholders and Queensland
Government Agencies 10

2009 IPAA National

Conference Update 11

The Future of Management 12

Welcome New Members 13

Over the Horizon 14

Priorities and Pitfalls of the

Queensland Public Sector 16
Cover story:
Hawkes’ Eye View 21 A Young Professional in New York (pg22)

‘The Public Interest’ is published by the Institute of National Conference Advertisers Note
Public Administration Australia (Queensland Division) Cath Healy Your attention is drawn to the Trade Practices Act of
PO Box 15624, 1974 and the provisions of the Act which apply to
Research advertising. It is not possible for the ‘Public Interest’
City East, Naomi Puchala to ensure that advertisements which are published in
Brisbane Q 4002 the journal comply in all respects with the Act. The
Membership & External Relations responsibility must therefore be on the person, company
Phone: (07) 3228 2800 Fax: (07) 3228 2888
Eden Platell, Simone Lee Long, Chani Murphy, or advertising agency submitting the advertisement
Email: publicinterest@qld.ipaa.org.au
Kerri-Ann Thiele for publication. IPAA reserves the right to refuse any
Print Post 444 840\0021
advertisement without a statement of reasons.
Institute Contacts Email correspondance to publicinterest@qld.ipaa.org.au
Advertising
President Layout All advertising should be directed to:
Margaret Allison Effigy Creative (www.effigy.com.au) Eden Platell
Chief Executive Officer Phone (07) 3265 4445 Phone: (07) 3228 2825, Fax: (07) 3228 2888
Peter Rumph Email: publicinterest@qld.ipaa.org.au
Training & Regional Services Printers Website: www.qld.ipaa.org.au
Siobhan McCarville, Lauren Just, Shelley Kenny, The Buckner Group Editorial Deadline
Ilona Sipowicz-Lysiak, Lorren Greaver Phone: (07) 3865 9677 December 08 edition: 30 Janurary 2009
Finance & Corporate Support Articles, opinions, research, reviews all welcome.
Nick Jovanovich, Caroline Brudell, Nickie Westacott, Publication Dates Email: publicinterest@qld.ipaa.org.au
Monica Jovanovich The ‘Public Interest’ is published quarterly.

2 Public Interest - December 2008


from the president
Welcome to the Annual Public Sector Conference
This year’s Annual Public Sector Conference
December edition of was a resounding success with a sellout crowd
the Public Interest. and great presentations from speakers like
Ken Smith, Ann Sherry, Helen Silver and
Carmel McGregor.
Concurrent sessions on topics such as
infrastructure, social inclusion and attraction
and retention were also very popular while
the final panel session with participants from
the Prime Minister’s 2020 panel received
rave reviews. Many of the presentations
are available to watch on our website,
along with presentation notes so head to
www.qld.ipaa.org.au to check them out.
Council Elections & AGM
September saw our AGM introduce some
new faces to the IPAA Queensland Council
– congratulations to Frank Prostamo and
Fiona Krause who have joined our Council for
the first time. I certainly look forward to working
with you both over the coming years.
We also welcomed back some familiar
faces and sadly said goodbye to one of our
dedicated Councillors, Anita Hicks, who has
decided to take a break from Council this term.
My thanks go to Anita for all of her hard work
over the last few years. Also leaving Council
was Jude Munro as Jim Varghese stepped
into the role of Immediate Past President.
Having worked with Jude for some time now
I know the commitment and hard work she
put into the Council and thank her for her
outstanding dedication and contribution.
A full list of your current Councillors can be
found in this edition.
An exciting addition to the AGM program
was a presentation from one of our young
professionals, Chandni Gupta. Chandni told
of her experiences completing an internship
at the UN in New York, a story she shares with
us in this edition. Her fascinating journey is
a fantastic reminder of the flexibility on offer
in the public sector.
from the president
Annual President’s Address
By the time this edition goes to print the
2008 Annual President’s Address will have
taken place. This year we were lucky enough
to have Hon Dr Geoff Gallop AC accept our
invitation to share his thoughts on ‘putting
the public back into the public sector’.
Another highlight of the 2008 President’s
Address is the presentation of a $10,000
cheque to the Hannah’s Chance Foundation.
All year we have been raising money through
our events, and together with a contribution
from IPAA Queensland we have hit the
$10,000 mark. This is a fantastic effort which
I’m sure will make a big difference to the
foundation. My thanks go to all of you who
have contributed across the year!
Bring on 2009!
Already there is an exciting array of
projects in the pipeline for 2009. Final touches
are currently being made to our 2009 program
of events with an exciting new event being
introduced to recognise and reward the best
and brightest the public sector has to offer.
Planning is also underway for our suite of
training programs and for our research
initiatives like the Principles of Good Practice
guidelines. We have some exciting changes to
membership being planned and of course we
have the 2009 National Conference being held
in Brisbane in November – what a year!
I would like to thank you - our members,
partners and stakeholders for your support in
2008 and wish you all the very best for a safe
and happy Christmas and New Years.
I look forward to seeing you all again
in 2009!
Best wishes,
Margaret Allison
President
Public Interest - December 2008 3
FROM THE CEO
FROM THE CEO
How time is flying!
Well, we are all a year In earlier articles I have talked about the
things we have introduced and the changes
older and hopefully we IPAA Queensland has undergone. While none
of these have been “earth shattering”, it has
are also a lot wiser. meant we now have a slightly different focus
to the way we operate and the priority we
give to activities.
2009 promises to be an even bigger
and brighter year for the Institute. In fact,
there will be several great new initiatives that
will not only test our internal capabilities,
but also position the Institute as the
pre-eminent professional association for
Public Sector Professionals in Queensland.
Firstly we plan to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of Queensland as a state with
two significant projects. 2009 will see the
introduction of the annual IPAA Queensland
Public Sector Excellence Awards for individuals
working in all three tiers of the Public Sector.
Nominated by peers and judged by
an independent panel, these awards will
recognise excellence across several criteria and
will be the only such awards recognising the
contribution of individuals in the profession
of public administration.
To coincide with these awards,
IPAA Queensland will recognise the
outstanding contributions to the public sector
by Queenslanders over the past 150 years.
The first inductees into our “Hall of Fame”
will be announced at the 2009 Excellence
Awards event. Further details will be
announced shortly.
If you were PM for a day, what would you do?
MEMBER Snapshot
Usha
I would outline my leadership policies on new
Adams innovations in organisational outcomes and
Position
encourage reforms, and attempt to encourage
Nursing Officer public participation and engagement in finding
(Psychiatry
solutions to pressing problems the country faces.
Services)
Who do you admire and why?
Agency I admire Premier Bligh as she is the first female
Queensland Health Premier in Qld and Australia. Premier Bligh
Location has grasped politics quickly and is doing an
Gold Coast honourable job.
4 Public Interest - December 2008
While there are many more initiatives
planned for 2009, perhaps the largest will
be the 2009 IPAA National Conference,
being hosted by the Queensland Division in
November 2009 at the Brisbane Convention
and Entertainment Centre.
Well over 600 attendees are anticipated
from across Australia and internationally.
Speakers covering a range of topics will
present on the most stunning array of
topics, which are all aimed at improving
the quality of public administration both
locally and nationally. While it is hoped to
include the Prime Minister as a principal
speaker, internationally renowned researchers,
practitioners and commentators will ensure
the two-day event is unforgettable.
Quite simply, IPAA Queensland plans to
make the 2009 conference the very best ever
hosted by a Division of the Institute.
All-in-all 2009 looks to be challenging,
enriching, full of promise and likely to be the
best year yet for the Institute. I can only hope
the year holds as much promise for you and
your families.
Best wishes for the holiday season!
Warm regards,
Peter Rumph - Chief Executive Officer
What do you like most about the Public Sector?
I love the team I work with, the current
developments in reforms, innovations, research,
in providing better client outcomes in the
context of current challenges. I feel that the
Public Sector provides support and opportunities
for career development.
Would you recommend the Public Sector
to work in?
Absolutely.
 2008 annual GENERAL MEETING
IPAA Queensland
2008 AGM
Tales about shopping Young professional member

MEET YOUR
Chandni Gupta shared her experiences
and meeting the completing an internship at the United Nations
in New York, providing an insightful and
ever-tempting
George Clooney in
entertaining opening to this year’s AGM.
The night also provided an opportunity
COUNCIL...
to celebrate the achievements of two of our Here’s a list of your Councillors following
New York are not members who were awarded the prestigious the 2008 AGM.
usually considered title of National Fellow. IPAA Queensland
President Margaret Allison and Dept of
PRESIDENT Ms Margaret Allison
Brisbane City Council
AGM business, Employment & Industrial Relations Director- IMMEDIATE PAST Mr Jim Varghese
General Peter Henneken were announced as
but that’s how we 2008 recipients at the National Conference
PRESIDENT

Springfield
Land Corporation

kicked off the 2008 in Sydney in June and received their awards
at the AGM. Congratulations Margaret and
Annual General Peter!
Meeting at The night also saw the presentation of
the 2007/08 Annual Report and Financial
IPAA Queensland Statements. The report highlighted the
VICE PRESIDENT Mr Ray Lane
Queensland Transport
VICE PRESIDENT Dr Patty Renfrow
Public Service Commission
SECRETARY Mr Don Bletchly
Dept of Main Roads

progress IPAA Queensland has made in ASSIST SECRETARY M

 s Sandy Beach
this year. consolidating its systems, processes and
QUT

services to make the organisation more TREASURER Mr Stewart Saini

Disability Services Qld
efficient and effective.
COUNCILLOR Ms Karen Anstis
Once the report and other motions were Australian Taxation Office
passed it was back to business with some COUNCILLOR Mr Tony Gibson
serious networking. Spirit 3H
COUNCILLOR Ms Tanya Hornick
Aust Bureau of Statistics
COUNCILLOR Mr Dan Keating
Queensland Police
COUNCILLOR NEW Ms Fiona Krause
Shared Services Agency
with
Frank Pr ostamo chats COUNCILLOR Mr Paul Martyn
New Councillor bson
ny Gi Dept of Tourism, Regional
Councillor To
Development & Industry
COUNCILLOR Mr David Mills
Queensland Audit Office
COUNCILLOR NEW Mr Frank Prostamo
The Public Trustee of Qld
(L to
R
Mike ) Paul W COUNCILLOR Ms Glenda Richards
Burn il
heim let, Chris Queensland Health
caug tin
ht up e Flynn
at th &
e AG
M
COUNCILLOR Mr Noel Rumble
Qld Transport Nth Region
COUNCILLOR Mr. Greg Tosh
Logan City Council
COUNCILLOR Dr Jennifer Waterhouse
Vice-president Patty Renfrow talked QUT
with visiting
international member Kennedy Otach
i

Public Interest - December 2008 5

THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS

The Role of
Communications
in Facilitating Large-Scale Organisational Change
By Andrew Metcalfe, DIAC

Type the word I would like to share with you some

“communications”
into a Google search
of my own experiences as the Secretary,
communicating to staff and external
stakeholders about all of the issues surrounding
what I believe to be one of the largest business
that the department had to acknowledge
failures had occurred. We had to develop
an organisation–wide understanding of why
the department as a whole had to change
and improve. This had to start immediately,

and you will come and cultural transformations undertaken by

a government department in Australia
up with about 400 in recent decades.
million references! I will talk to you about how I have been
conveying the message about this important
The reason that task, so that all 7000 DIAC staff in some
there is so much 100 locations throughout the world, have a
shared understanding of where we are going
discussion about and what we want to achieve.
the subject of Three years into this major change
program, it is no understatement to say that
communications without a clear and explicit commitment
to communications throughout the entire
is because of its organisation, such a transformation could
paradoxical nature: not have occurred.
it is at once, The catalyst for change
both easy Let me begin by putting this story into a
historical context.
and difficult. There were clearly serious failures in the
Department of Immigration, Multicultural
and Indigenous Affairs as it was then known,
affecting Cornelia Rau, Vivian Alvarez and
other people held unlawfully. These failures
were documented in the Palmer and Comrie
reports released in July and September 2005,
and subsequent reports by the Ombudsman.
but could not be achieved overnight.
We also had to recognise the considerable
experience and insights of people who had
worked in the pre–Palmer environment,
while being clear that nearly every aspect
of the organisation needed fundamental
reform. We also had to bring in new people
to bring new ideas and energy. We had
to engage people at all levels across the
department, to ensure ownership of the new
approach and the new ways of doing business.
We had to acknowledge that major failures
had occurred, with tragic results. But we
also had to recognise that in some areas, the
department is a world leader – for example,
in planned migration programs, in refugee
resettlement and in border technology.
And we had to recognise that some staff
had been directly and personally affected
by working for long periods in difficult and
sensitive areas of administration.
These were complex issues and we had
very little time to resolve them — we were
under significant pressure to show quick
results that the culture of the department was
changing for the better.
Importance of communication

In his report at the time, Mr Palmer
noted a ‘culture that is overly self–protective
and defensive, a culture largely unwilling
to challenge organisational norms or to
engage in genuine self–criticism or analysis’.
More broadly, the Palmer and Comrie reports
focused on leadership, governance, training
systems support, the relationship between
policy development and implementation, client
service delivery and records management.
These issues required an urgent response.
It is clear to me as Secretary, appointed
immediately following the Palmer report,
There is no use in trying to engineer major
cultural transformation if the message goes
no further than the senior leadership team.
We had to communicate effectively with all
staff and stakeholders so that we had buy–in
at all levels. Change and reform can only
occur if everyone is involved – staff need to
hear the message, understand it, own it –
otherwise nothing can change. And the fact
that the department has 7000 staff in around
100 locations throughout the world,
often working in difficult and sensitive
circumstances, meant that we had to be clear
and consistent in our messaging.

6 Public Interest - December 2008


There is no use in trying to engineer major cultural transformation if the message goes no
further than the senior leadership team. We had to communicate effectively with all staff
and stakeholders so that we had buy–in at all levels.
When I began as Secretary of the
department in July 2005, the government
and many stakeholders were eager for change
to occur and many staff recognised that the
status quo was not working. Staff at all
levels needed to understand we all needed to
embrace our new ways of working.
We developed a small, high–level team
– the Change Management Taskforce –
which met with myself and the deputy
secretaries every morning for four months,
to craft the messages that would be
communicated to staff, cut through any road
blocks and calibrate all the different streams
of activity underway. We needed to make it
clear what was important and where we were
going. In some ways, this was the easiest and
yet the hardest part of the whole process.
It was easy because it wasn’t difficult to define
the key elements of our vision. The hard part
of creating a new vision was to develop
ownership among the staff for these goals
and the cultural change required. This is where
communication became absolutely crucial.
Since the Palmer report, we have worked
very carefully to clearly communicate the
appropriate behaviours and values for the
organisation as a whole. At the same time,
the magnitude and nature of the culture
change required, meant that all staff had to
be participants in the process. It was essential
that each staff member felt ownership of the
department’s new direction. As I mentioned
earlier, we had to develop a collective
understanding across the organisation, of who
we were and where we were going.
We started by developing a very clear
statement of what we do, through our motto –
people our business. Our motto was developed
after asking for staff input, so there was
ownership and pride taken in this fundamental
statement of what our work is about.
We added another level of detail by developing
three strategic themes for the organisation to
guide every aspect of our work.
These are to:
• be an open and accountable organisation
• have fair and reasonable dealings with
clients, and
• ensure well–trained and supported staff
We have now reinforced this with
comprehensive business plans and individual
performance discussions.
As I mentioned earlier, from the very
first day that I started as Secretary, I was
determined that all staff should understand
the need for change and how the changes
were occurring.
In addition to many face–to–face
meetings, I now speak to all my staff twice
a week, through an all–staff email, and all
Senior Executive Service staff once a week,
also by email. Messages have been sent out
twice a week, from the very first week I started
at the department, in July 2005. As at this
morning I am up to around 400 messages
sent! Each message is crafted not only
to inform staff about important
developments and issues, but they can all be
mapped back to our three strategic themes,
which I mentioned earlier.
But communication needs to be more
than frequent, it has to be meaningful –
and it has to be two–way, to involve listening
as well as talking. Staff are encouraged to
provide feedback through my Secretary’s
email box. And let me tell you, I know for
certain through the emails I receive from staff,
there are many frank and fearless public
servants in my department! However, it is
important that they have a channel to speak
directly to the Secretary, if they so choose.
And it gives me the opportunity to learn on
a daily basis, the issues that are important
to staff.
Another key communication/feedback
tool has been our Staff Surveys. We have
held one survey for each of the years I have
been Secretary, and the surveys have been
invaluable in assisting the executive to
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS
shape the department into the sort of place
where staff are happy to work. The 2008
DIAC Staff Survey participation rate was
85.2 per cent which is a very good response rate
for an electronic survey (an increase of nearly
5 per cent on last year). We have also
encouraged staff input and incorporated
their suggestions into the DIAC Strategic
Plan 2008–11, the department’s key document
for the future.
I have held regular “town hall” addresses
to staff, recognising their work through events
such as our own Australia Day celebrations
and awards, announcing major new changes
following federal Budgets, or highlighting the
work of particular business areas.
Communicating in a way people
will listen
Immediately post–Comrie and Palmer,
we recognised we had to build up the
department’s communications branch
capability because it would provide the skills
and equipment needed to get many of the
messages across.
We did this, and apart from our monthly
DIAC People on–line magazine, we now have
our own highly professional monthly TV
style news program, highlighting the work
being done by staff, created at a surprisingly
modest cost to the department. Staff access
the program through our intranet site.
Our departmental cameramen have followed
Immigration officers working for Seaports,
processing the papers of sea crew entering
Australia. They have filmed compliance
training operations, gone out on the road
with regional outreach officers and filmed
citizenship ceremonies around Australia.
Web analysis shows that more than 4000 staff
view the Our People video program within
24 hours of it being posted on the intranet.
I am able to communicate with staff
through podcasts and vodcasts on a regular
basis, when important announcements have
to be made. We have also filmed training
Public Interest - December 2008 7
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS
The Role of
Communications
in Facilitating Large-Scale Organisational Change
By Andrew Metcalfe, DIAC
programs, that help staff to communicate
better with each other which are placed
on the intranet for all to use. For example,
we recently launched a program showing staff
real–life role plays on how to conduct their
twice–yearly performance interviews. It showed
staff how to prepare for their interviews, and it
showed supervisors how they should conduct
the interview, and the sorts of discussions they
should have with team members.
This expanded communications capacity
has been particularly important, given that
a large proportion of our staff are under
30 years of age and are very busy.
Research has indicated that this age group is
more likely to retain information presented
to them through contemporary, high–tech
methods such as podcasts as opposed
to the traditional presentation methods.
This communication method has, in my view,
been key to engendering the type of long term,
cultural change required in my department.
Good communication doesn’t mean not
having fun
But in addition to all these “serious”
messages, we have also introduced some plain
old–fashioned morale–boosters, to improve
communications between staff. Simply said,
our social clubs do great work for staff
and the communities we live in. The DIAC
National Office Social Club raised a total of
$64, 000 last year for local Canberra charities
through events such as our annual Ball;
Christmas Party; Shave for a Cure; Red Nose
Day, Salvos Red Shield Appeal, and so on.
And we have raised just over $54,000 so far
this year. I have to make a sheepish confession
here. There are not many Secretaries who
have been coerced by their Social Club into
wearing a very tight, white lycra Elvis suit,
resplendent with a black latex wig – all in
the name of charity, of course. Our staff
are also enthusiastic contributors to the
Red Cross blood service – winning the
competition amongst Canberra public sector
agencies in recent years, including some much
bigger departments.
8 Public Interest - December 2008
Another old–fashioned communications
tool I insist on is that both I and all of our
Senior Executive Service officers must spend
some time on a DIAC front counter or with
operational staff at some point, each year.
I have done this so our senior leaders truly
understand what it is like for our staff
operating at the coal–face of what can often
be demanding and complex work.
Stakeholder Engagement
One of the major issues identified in
the Palmer and Comrie reports was that the
department knew little about its stakeholders,
let alone engaged or communicated with
them. As a result, we set up a strategic
priority for ourselves as an organisation of
significantly improving our relationships with
our stakeholders.
We hold annual forums in capital cities
around Australia, where our stakeholders can
talk directly to senior staff and policymakers,
and provide valuable insights and viewpoints
into the policy process. At the same time,
our staff can explain to stakeholders the
challenges and complexities of developing
government policy. This has established a
robust and mutually beneficial relationship
between us and our stakeholders.
Communication through improving
client service
We have also taken steps to raise our levels
of client service – to aspire to excellence in
client service – a lot of which is based on
better communications with our clients.
One simple step was to ask all our staff to
wear a name badge, to present an open and
welcoming image.
In a 2008 survey carried out by the
University of Queensand Social Research
Centre, just over 82 per cent of clients were
‘satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ with services
provided by DIAC. This is up from 79 per cent
in 2007. Less than 8 per cent were ‘dissatisfied’
to ‘very dissatisfied’, down from 15 per cent
in 2007. Levels of “courtesy” by DIAC staff
also jumped from 72 per cent in 2007 to
82 per cent in 2008.
So you can see that our external clients
and stakeholders are definitely registering
the change in DIAC’s culture and the way
we do business. For instance, Peter Gillson,
the Vice President of the Society of Consumer
Affairs Professionals noted that he had been
looking closely at what DIAC had been doing
with our Client Service Charter, and our
Service Standards, and has described it as
“leading edge”.
I must add however, that our minister quite
rightly continues to request improvements
in the way we deal with clients, so we are
continuing to focus on further improving our
customer service. We can always do better.
Media
As I mentioned earlier, we built up
our National Communications Branch in
recognition of the need to communicate all that
we were doing. This included communicating
to external audiences through the media.
Prior to the development of the branch,
we were literally deluged daily with an
avalanche of negative media. It is fair to say
that the department was not media–friendly
— understandably so. But it had to change.
We had to be able to communicate to the
community and our stakeholders about the
massive changes that were going on within
the department. We tore down
the bunker and put
up a sign that
said: “Media
Section: now
open 24 hours
per day, 365
days a year.” The
media now knows
they can call our media
team (most of whom are
ex–journalists) at any time,
and will get a response. On
a normal working day, the
aim is to have a response to the
media enquiry within 60 minutes of
receiving the call.

I am able to communicate with staff through podcasts and vodcasts on a regular basis,
when important announcements have to be made.
We are also developing an on–line
newsroom, which will be a large repository of
broadcast and press quality audio files and
visual files, which can be used by the media.
It means we are able to highlight the great work
being done in many areas of the department —
not just simply responding to media enquiries.
We’re making it easy for the media to use
the film footage and audio files that would
otherwise be only used internally.
Departmental business
In the midst of all of this, the department
is getting on with the daily business of
immigration, settlement and citizenship.
We are working at a fast pace, reflecting the
engagement of Australia and Australians in
the wider global economy.
For example, last financial year, we:
• processed more than 24 million passenger
and crew arrivals and departures
• answered 1.7 million phone calls at our
Sydney and Melbourne contact centres
• granted nearly 3.6 million visitor visas
offshore
• processed 13,000 refugee and humanitarian
visas
• granted over 158,000 migrant visas and
110,000 subclass 457 (temporary skilled
work) visas and
• granted citizenship to nearly 170,000
people.
The government has announced a
range of reforms in the area of compliance,
detention and asylum seeker processing,
while maintaining a strong focus on our border
integrity. Earlier in the year, the government
ended the ‘Pacific Strategy’ with the closure
of the Nauru Offshore Processing Centre.
The Temporary Protection visas for
asylum seekers have been abolished,
resolving the status of some 1,000
refugees in Australia, and of
course, the recent landmark speech
by the minister on our new directions
in detention.
The government has also firmly established
in the public arena that migration is a central
pillar of nation building and the key to our
national prosperity. In my speech at the
L21 Public Sector Leadership Conference I
outlined some of the announcements by the
minister in the 2008–09 Budget. This speech
is available on the department’s website if
you are interested. In summary, they include
increases to the Migration and Humanitarian
Programs; strengthening measures to help
migrants develop their English language skills;
the reform of the Subclass 457 visa, and the
recently announced Pacific Seasonal Worker
Pilot Scheme.
Conclusion
Much has been done over the past three
years to change the Department of Immigration
and Citizenship into the organisation it is
today. It is fair to say that not one single area
of the department has remained untouched
by the massive cultural and business
transformation that is currently occurring.
This has happened while the organisation
continued with “business as usual” –
and a record migration program.
I firmly believe that without a serious
commitment to strong and effective
communication at all levels, we would not
be where we are today – a department that
is committed to our motto of: people our
business, and working to our three strategic
themes of:
• being an open and accountable
organisation
• having fair and reasonable dealings
with clients
• having well–trained and supported staff.
I have no doubt that as an organisation,
we will continue to develop in our goals
of excellence in all areas of business,
because the foundations are now firmly in
place, and we are well and truly on our way.
And good communication will remain crucial.
Andrew Metcalfe, Secretary, Department
of Immigration and Citizenship presented
this paper at the Public Sector Change
Communications Conference in Canberra
in September.
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS
QLD
Health &
IPAA QLd
PRAISE HR
Practitioners
IPAA Queensland supported
Queensland Health’s recent People Forum
by sponsoring the IPAA Queensland Project
Award as part of the Inaugural PRAISE
Awards dinner, held during the forum.
PRAISE stands for the new Human
Resources (HR) Program Recognising
Achievement, Innovation and Service
Excellence (PRAISE). Awards were given
to high performing HR practitioners and
HR Leaders, recognising the positive
impacts of HR projects.
Congratulations to the team members
involved in the following projects who won
the IPAA Queensland Project Award:
• Transition to Retirement
• Recruitment Improvement Initiative
• Untapped Labour Market
• HR Graduate Program
• Improving Workplace Culture
IPAA Queensland also had a booth
at the conference (with the ever popular
massage chairs!) and a book stall with a
range of HR focused books from the IPAA
Queensland Online Bookstore.
The forum brought together HR
practitioners from across Queensland
Health, allowing practitioners to further
develop their skills, to build their
professional networks and to share
thoughts and experiences about how they
have turned HR challenges into innovative
ideas with strong business outcomes.
Taking place at the Brisbane
Convention & Exhibition Centre in
November, one of the forum highlights
was the ‘Great HR Debate’ featuring the
2008 Queensland Health HR graduates.
Public Interest - December 2008 9
GETTING ENGAGED

getting engaged
Stakeholders and Queensland Government Agencies
By Sandra Beach

During 2008, Background The study also developed a comprehensive

the Public Interest
has featured articles
from authors
who presented
at International
framework of stakeholder engagement
As a result of diminished trust in
government and the recognition that public
techniques that may be employed by agencies
to connect with stakeholders.
policy development is ineffective without
public participation (King, Feltey, & Susel, Discussion
1998), more recently, public organisations
Stakeholder identification and
have actively sought to create opportunities
for involvement on a range of stakeholder
classification was difficult for agencies
due to a lack of agreement about who
groups. Engaging different stakeholders has
been seen as a means of improving the quality
constitutes a stakeholder, the breadth and

Research Society for of policy development by harnessing different

complexity of the potential stakeholder pool
and the existence of stakeholders at many
ideas and perspectives, and improving service
Public Management delivery by exerting pressure on bureaucracies
different levels within the agencies.

conference convened and creating more robust communities

through direct engagement in the planning
Effectively classifying stakeholders is
particularly problematic for large agencies
by QUT earlier and delivery of services (Martin, 2003). with multiple service delivery objectives,
strong industry ties and regulatory roles
in the year. Given the potential benefits, the meaningful
because the stakeholder pool is potentially
and effective engagement of citizens
The following paper, and other actors, including stakeholders,
very large. One agency reported that it had
“at least 1,500 groups of stakeholders…”,
reviewing stakeholder in public decision-making processes is one
of the key issues facing public organisations
excluding project stakeholders.

engagement, is the (Stern & Fineberg, 1996). Determining ways While the agencies reported using a
of engaging those who could or should have wide range of initiatives to engage with
third and final article input into public decision making and action stakeholders, they were unable to identify

in the series. is particularly relevant as governments struggle

to resolve complex social problems within an
environment of labour shortages, increasing
demand for services and reducing budgets.
The Stakeholder Approach
A recent study (Beach, 2008) of nine
government agencies operating at federal,
state and local jurisdictions in Queensland,
considered how these agencies undertook the
complex task of engaging with and managing
stakeholders. The top four issues that emerged
from this research were that:
1. Agencies have difficulty in identifying and
classifying stakeholders
2. The scale of the stakeholder task is massive
for large agencies
3. There is a lack of clarity about the costs
and benefits of stakeholder engagement
initiatives and
4. Agency/stakeholder relationships are
changing and new stakeholders are being
added to the mix.
the implementation costs associated with
these initiatives or the benefits created.
Nevertheless, the agencies perceived that
the benefits associated with stakeholder
engagement outweighed the costs, with
one agency indicating that “the costs of not
doing it would probably be far greater than
the investment it takes to do it…”.
As relationships with stakeholders evolve
and adapt to environmental changes, it is
apparent that public agencies are seeking
to interact with stakeholders in ways that
are more open and relationship based.
Diagram One outlines some of the initiatives
identified and their purpose
The agencies in this study also reported
perceived changes in organisational/
stakeholder relationships which resulted in
stakeholders being more actively involved in
development of solutions. However it is not
clear what factors drive agencies in making
choices about the types of stakeholder

10 Public Interest - December 2008

 GETTING ENGAGED
Engaging different stakeholders has been seen as a means of improving the
quality of policy development

engagement activities required in different

policy and service delivery situations. Future
research is required to uncover and understand
the impact of these factors.
Conclusion
Government agencies are beginning
to come to terms with the complexities
of engaging with stakeholders. For large
agencies, the vast scale of the stakeholder
task is quite daunting.
2009 IPAA NATIONAL
CONFERENCE UPDATE
I hope by now you’ve heard that we’re hosting the 2009 IPAA National Conference
right here in Brisbane next November. We’re delighted to have the opportunity to bring
together the public sector community from around Australia and overseas for to address
significant contemporary issues and challenges facing the sector.

This study also showed that Queensland To ensure the conference is highly topical and relevant we have formed an Organising
Committee made up of Councillors, members and stakeholders. Our thanks go to:
government agencies are seeking to build more
collaborative relationships with stakeholders
Patty Renfrow – Committee Chair Tony Gibson – Spirit3H
as a means of improving public outcomes.
Public Service Commission Dianne Jeans – Smart Service Qld
To foster these relationships, stakeholder
Cath Healy – National Conference Anita Hicks – Dept of Tourism,
engagement activities need to be fit for
Project Manager Regional Development & Industry
purpose, open and transparent and create
value for the parties involved. Peter Rumph – CEO IPAA Qld Gary Kellar – Reinforcements
Margaret Allison – Brisbane City Consulting Pty Ltd
The next step however, is for agencies Council & IPAA Qld President Gary Mahon – Dept of Emergency
to more effectively classify stakeholders so Ray Lane – Qld Transport Services
that engagement strategies can be specifically Karen Anstis – Australian Tax Office Scott Prasser – USC
tailored for different stakeholder groupings. Sandy Beach – QUT Rebecca Roebuck – Kellogg, Brown &
This approach will determine the relative Christine Flynn – Advanced Dynamics Root Pty Ltd
effort and type of engagement required,
resulting in improved outcomes. Plans are well and truly underway and the conference is taking shape with a theme
If you would like to discuss the ideas in and sub-themes now confirmed, along with the date and venue.
this article further, please contact the author
Sandra Beach sandra.beach@qut.edu.au THEME: THE CHANGING Public Sector CLIMATE
SUBTHEMES: • Rising ‘C’ Levels (e.g. issues of capability, collaboration, etc)
References • Survival of the Fittest (e.g. public sector strengths and weaknesses)
Beach, S. (2008). Together Now: Stakeholders in Government • Warming to Global Trends (e.g. international influences)
Agencies. Paper presented at the International Research Society
for Public Management Conference 2008. Retrieved 21 April
• Sustainable Practice (e.g. innovative and creative solutions)
2008, from http://www.irspm2008.bus.qut.edu.au/papers/ DATE: 19/20 November 2009
byauthor-a-d.jsp. VENUE: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Southbank Brisbane
King, C., Feltey, K., & Susel, B. (1998). The Question of
Participation: Toward Authentic Public Participation in Public
Administration. Public Administration Review, 58(4), 317-326. We’ve also established a dedicated website where you can currently register
Martin, S. (2003). Engaging with citizens and other stakeholders.
your details to receive regular Conference updates and make suggestions regarding
In T. Bovaird & E. Löffler (Eds.), Public Management and speakers and/or topics that you’d like to see included in the conference program.
Governance (pp. 189-202). London Routledge. The website will also contain full conference information as it comes to hand,
Stern, P. C., & Fineberg, H. (1996). Understanding Risk: www.ipaanationalconference.org.au
Informing Decisions in a Democratic Society. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press. I look forward to updating you regularly with further developments as the conference
program develops.

Patty Renfrow – Organising Committee Chair

Public Interest - December 2008 11

THE FUTURE OF MANAGEMENT
the future of
management
By Vi-Mar y Har tridge
On August 20 2008, As one of the world’s leading experts
on business strategy, Hamel challenged the
Gary Hamel presented traditional management roles that have been
part of the manager’s DNA during the 20th
his vision on the Century and sought to push the boundaries
of today’s accepted best practice. As we move
Future of Management into uncertain economic times, we can take
guidance from Hamel’s quest for adaptability
at the IPAA Queensland of management practices.
International At the core of Gary Hamel’s presentation,
was the need for the nurturing and
Speaker series. development of management innovation.
History has shown that management
innovation is the true driver behind many
operational and product innovations. However,
with the speed of change in the 21st Century,
these innovations need to be happening at an
accelerated pace.
The first challenge in the 21st Century
identified by Hamel was how to create an
organisation that is as nimble as change
itself. The solution lies in the creation of
highly adaptable organisations. The public
sector provides both an ideal yet challenging
environment for sustaining adaptability.
As a sector where Machinery of Government
changes are common, it needs to become
more strategic in the three drivers that Hamel
identifies for adaptability to be effective.
These are foresight, options and flexibility.
The second challenge Hamel addressed
was the integration of innovation
as part of everyone’s job, every day.
The additional challenge for the public sector
is the supporting of radical and not risky,
innovators. The focus is therefore to build on
the capabilities that already exist. The analogy
used by Hamel, to assist in bolstering human
imagination was an analysis of the history of
art. Throughout different art movements, from
post impressionism to cubism and abstract to
post modernism, the core basics of a canvas,
paints and brushes has stayed the same but
artists started to see new and innovative ideas
and ways that others didn’t. In other words,
they built on their capabilities through their
imagination and radical new ideas.
12 Public Interest - December 2008
with Gar y Hamel
It is through these new ideas that others
borrow and build on to create innovation
in their field. In the public sector, there is a
need to deconstruct what you believe, as many
benchmarks have been developed as part of
unwittingly thinking like other government
agencies masked by the premise that the public
service is risk averse. Through developing a
culture of openness and persistence and by
being open to both internal and external
innovative ideas, the public sector has the
potential to become the driver of innovation
in the 21st Century.
It is the challenge of fully engaging the
talents of every individual that Hamel identifies
as the third challenge. Hamel estimates
that organisations generate around 45% of
people’s capabilities everyday. The challenge
is in developing capabilities that will lead to
management innovation and this can only be
done through engagement. In order to have
staff fully engaged, organisations need to
develop their passion, creativity and initiative.
If they only come to work with their intellect,
diligence and obedience, then we have no
point of difference in a creative economy.
The challenge for the
public sector is therefore
to re-write the DNA of
organisations as we move into
the 21st Century.
Another key differentiator important for
engagement is the development of a sense of
community where individuals work together to
create value for other people. This, combined
with a sense of purpose, is where managers
need to re-connect. What can they be doing to
bring these values to the fore? The public sector
provides an ideal environment for nurturing
this engagement, as long as it is based in
the principles of Aspiration, Recognition,
Transparency and Accountability.
 THE FUTURE OF MANAGEMENT
The public sector provides both an ideal yet challenging environment for
sustaining adaptability. As a sector where Machinery of Government changes
are common, it needs to become more strategic in the three drivers

The final challenge Hamel addresses is

that of reinventing management for the 21st
century. Take on a challenge, perhaps even
having the courage to take on something
bigger than best practice and do it with
WELCOME
passion. As Hamel says, “life is too short for
inconsequential problems”. But in order to do
NEW MEMBERS
this effectively, we must first challenge our
management dogmas. As with any change, The latest to join the IPAA Queensland family
it usually takes a crisis for us to develop a
Usha Adams Miranda Simpson
clear change agenda. It is the fear of change, Queensland Health Dept of Tourism,
which drives the inertia of innovative Regional Development & Industry
Gwen Baskerville
management and without change whole
Queensland Transport Lee Spano
organisations are held hostage to the past.
There comes a point where new issues cannot Bron Ferguson Yvette Teoh
Legal Aid Queensland Queensland Police Service
be solved with old principles. New management
principles need to be developed. Therefore, George Fletcher Ken Wilkinson
Piper Alderman Dept of Communities
experimentation needs to become part of
the culture as, if innovation is treated as a Michael Fritschi Stephanie Wood
Astute Management Consulting Pty Ltd Godwin Wood Consulting P/L
project, it will run out of steam, as opposed
to integrating it as part of the culture. Wendy Gilbert John Woolnough
Dept of Education, Training & the Arts Dept Of Education, Training & The Arts
The challenge for the public sector is
therefore to re-write the DNA of organisations Damian Green
PricewaterhouseCoopers
as we move into the 21st Century. The key
to this is building resilience through a sense Diane Henderson
of purpose and meaning for managers and Dept of Education, Training & the Arts
increasing their skills in developing their Mary Iwanko
people. IPAA Queensland plays a key role in the Queensland Rail Ltd
development of managers in the 21st century. Ross Konowalenko
The Practical People Management Program Queensland Police Service
(PPMP) is a five day program that focuses on Andrew Kriedemann
building the confidence and capabilities of Queensland Health
managers so that organisations can get a head
Ross McLeish
start on the future by building tomorrow’s Optus
best practices today.
Andrew McMicking
Vi-Mary Hartridge specialises in Queensland Competition Authority
individual, team and organisational Christopher Morrison
development. Her extensive experience and Brisbane City Council
expertise in developing leaders for the future Selena O’Neill
makes her one of Queensland’s most sought Hudson Global Resources
after facilitators. She is one of the principal
Chris Parminter
facilitators with the IPAA Queensland PPMP Queensland Studies Authority
program which can be tailored to suit
Andrew Reid
individual agency requirements. Banana Shire Council
Derrick Sillence

Public Interest - December 2008 13

OVER THE HORIZON

OVER THE HORIZON

A Perspective on the Annual Public Sector Conference 2008
By Tony Gibson

It was a full house

at the Brisbane Hilton
for the Annual Public
Sector Conference
on Thursday,
23 October 2008
with the theme ie rnan, a
unro,
Jude M offered
ll
nn e T ggin s panel
e, Dr A r Jackie Hu 20 Summit
Over the Horizon – Owen
rghes
Jim Va areham & D ar t of the 2
W
tive as
p
0
MC Lis
a Back
erspec Cabine ho
t Directo use with Dept
Creating a More their p r-Genera of
l Ken S Premier &
mith

Modern, Efficient
and Effective
Public Service.
There was an atmosphere of high energy
and optimism from the conference start with
the welcome by President Margaret Allison
and Auntie Valda Coolwell from the Brisbane
Council of Elders.
The Queensland Government responded to
the conference theme with the government’s
blueprint for the future through Ken Smith,
Director-General, Dept. of Premier and
Cabinet and Ann Sherry, Chair of the Public
Service Commission. Ann discussed
the significant challenges of
recruiting 130,000 new people to
the QPS over the next ten years.
The new Public Service Commission
priorities that resonated with
me were the need to build a
policy capability for innovation,
provide excellence in leadership,
partnering for outcomes and engagement
with the public.
Helen Silver, Secretary of the Department
of the Premier and Cabinet, Victoria provided
excellent frameworks for open, innovative and
collaborative policy reform. Helen discussed
a third wave of national reform around
developing human capital.
A valuable case study of improved
service delivery was provided by
Carmel McGregor, Deputy Secretary of
Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Carmel described significant culture change
and collaboration. Positive changes in
DIAC for clients and the workforce were backed
by rigour, analysis, innovation, inclusion and a
client-centric approach.
An interactive session led by Naomi Puchala
highlighted the reasons for attracting and

wd ener gised
ms got the cro
Human Rhyth
after lunch

14 Public Interest - December 2008

 OVER THE HORIZON
Ray Lan
e
the con , Cath Healy, P
ference aul Ma
rtyn ca
ught up & Helen Lawrence & Elissa
at igration ry Greer enjoyed the
of Imm e networking drinks
o m th e Dept service deliv
gor fr ved
l McGre ut impro
Carme ip spoke abo
iz e n s h
Cit

retaining people to the public sector workforce.
Coaching, mentoring and developing career
pathways were seen as essential to ensure the
best people in the public sector.
The new Public Service
Commission priorities that
resonated with me were the
need to build capability for
innovation, provide excellence
in leadership, partnering for
outcomes and engagement
with the public
Dr Anne Tiernan facilitated the 2020
Summit reflections with representatives
Dr Jackie Huggins, Jude Munro, Jim Varghese
and Owen Wareham. This continued the
optimism with so many solutions to complex
problems. Owen, representing the youth of
Australia, provided confidence that problems
over the horizon will be addressed by the
next generation.
Whilst my interests are focused around
people in organisations, I believe a multitude
of interests were provided for conference
participants by all the themes and presenters
assembled. Innovation, collaboration,
leadership, coaching and developing human
capital are some of the key words for me in
meeting the challenges over the horizon.
Tony Gibson is former Manager Human
Resources, Queensland Building Services
Authority and is now Director SPIRIT.3H -
Learning and Development.

IPAA Queensland President

Margaret Allison

Public Interest - December 2008 15

PRIORITIES AND PITFALLS
It is an exciting time
to be working in the
public service in
Queensland
and Australia.
Public services deliver
those daily and vital
services in our society
we all use in our lives:
our schools,
hospitals, emergency
services, and law and
justice system.
And when working
together and with
business and
community they have
an important role
in helping create a
better, fairer and more
cohesive society.
That is one reason
why thinking about
public services in a
holistic and strategic
manner is
so important.
16 Public Interest - December 2008
Priorities and Pitfalls
for the Queensland Public Sector
By Ann Sherr y
I have worked in both State and Federal
Government as well as the private sector and
These challenges are:
• Building a strong and diverse economy.
I have an enduring interest in politics and
• Protecting lifestyles and environment.
government. When the Premier announced
in March this year that there would be • Delivering world class education and
training.
significant reforms to the Queensland public
service, including the establishment of a new • Ensuring the health of all Queenslanders.
Public Service Commission, the invitation • Supporting a safe and caring community.
for me to become the Chair of the new
Board of Commissioners was an irresistible As you all know, Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s
Queensland is the plan to deliver outcomes
opportunity.
that will address each of these challenges.
The Premier has tackled the reform agenda
with vision and vigour. I was struck by her
Q2 has set a total of 10 targets – 2 for each of
the 5 areas of challenge – that Government,
passion to revitalise the Queensland public
service to be responsive, innovative and
the community and industry will need to
work together collaboratively to achieve.
efficient … to think strategically about the way
Queensland is well-placed to weather the
we do business and how we can continuously
improve on the capability of our workforce
global economic storm. It has a relatively strong
economy that has been growing uninterrupted
to deliver on the elected Government of the
since the early 1990s and Queensland is the
day’s priorities.
I believe there are great opportunities
second fastest growing state in Australia.
In addition, Queensland’s expanding population
in the public sector and I am excited by the - predicted to increase by 1.5 million people
contribution I can make. I’m also delighted to 5.6 million over the next 20 years -
to have an excellent team of experts from presents both challenges and opportunities.
business, government and academia on the
Commission Board and together we will play
To meet the challenges of Q2, the public
a central role in helping prepare the public
service needs to position itself to respond
flexibly to meet changing – and emerging
service for the future.
Challenges For Queensland
– community needs and service delivery
demands. The work of the new Public Service
I want to talk about the challenges Commission will align closely with Q2 priorities,
that lie ahead. In a much quoted speech in to support the Government, community
and industry working collaboratively to
Cape Town in 1966, Robert F Kennedy said:
There is a Chinese curse which says ‘May he achieve them.
live in interesting times’. Like it or not, we live
in interesting times…’.
Challenges for the Queensland
Public Service
As the future is looking more uncertain, So what are the challenges that lie
and perhaps just a little too interesting,
building a public service now that is ready
ahead for Queensland and its public service?
When it was established in 1800 the Queensland
and able to meet the challenges of the civil service had three departments and
21st century is more important than ever.
But sometimes the most difficult times are the
200 staff. Today’s public service has 188,000
staff across 24 departments, providing services
most rewarding. They challenge us to think
differently, and create circumstances that
state-wide - yet some of what we do and how
we do it has not kept pace with this scale
bring out the best in us all. of change. We have some clear challenges

Queensland is well-placed to weather the global economic storm. It has a relatively strong
economy that has been growing uninterrupted since the early 1990s and Queensland is
the second fastest growing state in Australia.
– some of which many of you will already
be aware of and may even have experienced
first-hand.
One of the biggest challenges is our ageing
workforce. Around 46% of the Queensland
permanent public sector workforce is currently
aged 45 years and over. The average age of
permanent employees has increased from 1.5
years in 2000 to 43.6 years in 2006. Half the
current workforce will be retiring in the next
15 years. That’s almost 80,000 employees to
replace within the next 15 years.
When you add to this other turnover and
the growth in demand for public services, the
Commission has estimated that to maintain
the current service levels about 129,000
people will need to be recruited over the
next 10 years. Either that or we will need
to bring innovative and sustained reform
to the models we use to deliver our public
services. In replacing the people we are losing,
and in attracting others to ensure we have the
workforce we need, the Queensland public
service is operating in a highly competitive
labour market. Characteristics of this market
include low unemployment, and labour and
skills shortages, particularly for some specialist
occupational groups. As such, the public
service faces very real challenges in attracting
and retaining talented staff to meet the service
delivery needs of the state.
Another challenge for the Queensland
public service is meeting the growing demands
of Queensland’s expanding population.
Future population growth is expected to
be distributed unevenly around the state.
75% of population growth is predicted to
occur in South-East Queensland. Coastal
areas, particularly Wide Bay-Burnett,
will also see significant increases in population.
One thing this will mean is building more
infrastructure. Queensland has two major
commercial Public Private Partnerships
currently underway - the Airport Link and
South Bank TAFE - which together are worth
almost $4bn. Many governments, here in
Australia, and internationally, are increasingly
using PPPs and Queensland should look
to continue to develop and harness these
commercial approaches in the future.
As a geographically large and diversely
populated state, we also need to think about
how we will deliver Government services
equitably, efficiently and effectively to all
clients in all parts of the state.
A final challenge arises from the range of
functions that the Queensland Government
undertakes to deliver across a large state.
For example, around 4 in every 5 of
Queensland’s public service officers are working
out there in the ‘front-line’ – as teachers,
nurses, police officers. The Queensland Police
Service employs 13,000 staff and provides
services 24 hours a day across a land mass
of 1.7 million square kilometres. But front
line staff can’t do it all - there are many
people working behind the scenes in policy,
administration and corporate support. All of
these people help deliver services that are vital
for Queenslanders.
We have a solid foundation and strengths
that we can build on to start to meet these
challenges. I’m impressed by the commitment
and identity that people have for Queensland;
the ethos that public servants here have
to delivering outcomes for Queenslanders;
and how over many years the public service
here has proven itself adept at dealing with
new challenges when they arise.
But, despite our strengths, we also have a
range of issues we need to address. The first
of these is related to our policy capability –
particularly the sector’s capability in strategic
policy and public policy. To achieve policy
leadership we need excellent, and at times,
innovative, policy capability. The public sector
is increasingly being called on to deliver
policy advice in a complex and changing
environment. In response, cross-agency
policy development and collaboration will be
needed. This is evident in the approach to
Q2 which emphasises the importance of shared
PRIORITIES AND PITFALLS
priorities, shared objectives, clear lead-agency
accountability and partnerships to achieve
outcomes.
Secondly, we need to get past agency silos.
Agencies need to make a concerted effort to
work more closely together. Collaboration and
coordination across government is required.
This is clear when we think about the challenges
we face: for example, chronic disease cannot
be solved alone by even the best health agency
in the world. Agencies that continue to work
in silos will provide fragmented services
to clients through duplicated processes.
This will result in increased costs.
A third, related issue that we need to
address is a shift to focus on outcomes
rather than process. The Queensland
Government has recently placed an
increased emphasis on outcome-focused
performance management in the public sector.
Under these new arrangements, Chief Executive
Officers will be accountable for outcomes.
These outcomes will be reported in key
corporate documents, and agency performance
will be monitored by central agencies.
The Public Service Commission has a key role
to play in implementing this new approach to
performance management. It will work with
Queensland Treasury and the Department of
the Premier and Cabinet, to ensure agencies
have the capability and systems to implement
these new arrangements.
Fourthly, Ken Smith has talked about
leadership as one clear priority for the next
stage of public sector reform. In particular,
he focused on the importance of identifying
and investing in the next group of public
service leaders, and the criticality of succession
planning and rewarding talent. As the public
sector moves toward a more outcome-focused
approach to performance, leadership skills will
become increasingly important. In the words
of the leading management writer Margaret
Wheatley: I believe that the capacity that any
organisation needs is for leadership to appear
anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.
Public Interest - December 2008 17
PRIORITIES AND PITFALLS
Priorities and Pitfalls
for the Queensland Public Sector by Ann Sherr y
Finally, to provide a diversity of services to
the community, the Queensland public sector
is increasingly engaging the commercial and
non-government sectors in service delivery.
Public-private partnerships can achieve
value for money in public infrastructure and
service delivery by sharing project risks across
public and private sector parties. Partnerships
have been effectively used in Queensland to
deliver housing in sustainable communities
– for example, the Kelvin Grove Urban Village.
Kelvin Grove is the result of an award-
winning partnership between the Queensland
Government and the Queensland University of
Technology. It links learning with enterprise,
creative industry with community, and is a
great example of innovative mixed-use and
sustainable urban development. To effectively
manage these partnerships, thought needs to
be given to the governance arrangements and
skill sets required – both now and in the future
– to deliver future projects of this nature.
PRIORITIES FOR THE QUEENSLAND
PUBLIC SERVICE
So, in this context, what should the
priorities be for the Queensland Public Service?
In my view, the top 5 priorities for getting us
to the 2020 vision are:
• Building and nurturing high-performing
organisations.
• Creating a cadre of excellent leaders.
• Motivating and up skilling the workforce.
• Partnering for outcomes: across
government and outside.
• Involving and engaging the public
throughout.
First, we know we can only get there
if we have high performing organisations.
To realise a high-performing public service
that achieves results for the community, both
central agency and individual agency business
models must be aligned. Central agencies
will have a critical role at the strategic centre
of reform delivery. The Commission forms
part of this strategic centre along with the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the
Queensland Treasury.
18 Public Interest - December 2008
The role of the Public Service Commission
is about working with agencies to build their
capability and capacity to deliver services.
It’s about spreading best practice, particularly
in relation to ‘people’ issues. All while working
collaboratively with the Department of the
Premier and Cabinet and the Queensland
Treasury to meet the challenges we face.
This means combining the Commission’s
strengths in human resource policy and
organisational management with the
Department of Premier and Cabinet and
Treasury’s respective strengths in strategic
policy, performance monitoring, and budget
management so that together, we can become
more than just the sum of our parts.
All agencies, CEO’s, and public servants
must get serious about performance. This means
setting clear expectations and holding CEOs,
their agencies and public servants to account.
But it’s not just about sticks: we also need to
reward those doing well, for example linking
performance to pay and career development,
and ensuring high performing agencies have
the autonomy to continue their excellent
work and spread this to others. Innovation in
public service delivery is vital. Innovation can
mean finding new ways of delivering services,
finding new ways to reach the community,
or finding new ways to manage and organise
the public service itself. The Commission
will have an important role here: to find and
champion these innovations in best practice.
We must aspire to become world-class
in this regard – and of course look not only
at Queensland but also to innovations
occurring in public service elsewhere in
Australia and internationally.
Second, we can only get to the 2020 vision
with excellent leaders working together with all
public servants on the journey. As you would
know - and may have experienced during your
working careers - great leaders are the agents
of effective and lasting cultural change.
In Jesse Jackson’s words: ‘Time is neutral and
does not change things. With courage and
initiative, leaders change things.’ But, while
we know that this is the case, the question
remains - how do we create the leaders of
tomorrow? I was struck by some recent data
looking at the age profile of managers in
the Queensland Public Service. The average
age of our managers at the three main levels
are in their late 40s. Indeed it’s striking how
similar the profiles are – raising important
questions for us about succession planning.
Of course leadership is not about age.
But there are two things that we should
note here.
The role of the
Public Service Commission
is about working with
agencies to build their
capability and capacity to
deliver services.
First, how can we encourage more young
and dynamic leaders into the public service?
I don’t think it’s just about money –
if anything, young people today seem to
place an even greater emphasis on ‘making
a difference’ than in the past. So we need
to find the ways to attract, motivate and
develop young talent. Second, there are
many good reasons to keep public servants
with valuable experience - so how can we
continually motivate and challenge those in
the later phases of their careers to be leaders?
Clearly it would be of benefit to bring talent in
at an early age. Given our ageing workforce,
this approach would help provide the sector
with the lead-in time to develop any critical
skills sets it needs for future service delivery.
As we know, organisational performance and
individual performance go hand in hand.
The Queensland Public Service should
aspire to be world class in how it creates
rapid trajectories that stretch and challenge

Quality of leadership, recognition, training and development, and career opportunities are
usually high on the list of reasons why people go looking for work elsewhere.
the best. This approach should be combined
with more effective management of our
talent pool at mid-career levels to support
and mentor the development of these high
performers. According to John C Maxwell,
an American leadership scholar and author,
The single biggest way to impact an
organisation is to focus on leadership
development. There is almost no limit to
the potential of an organisation that recruits
good people, raises them up as leaders and
continually develops them. ’
Given the importance of leadership,
the Public Service Commission has recently
developed a Capability and Leadership
Framework to assess and develop leadership
skills at all levels of the public service.
The Commission will actively work with
agencies to build leadership skills in the
Queensland public service. Ad hoc development
will no longer be sufficient in ensuring the
public service executive is equipped to deal
with the complexities and challenges of the
future. We will raise our game here. In addition
to bringing in, developing and rewarding
talent, we also need to open up the public
service so that people from all walks of life
can make their unique contributions to the
community. I’m struck that less than 1 in 20 of
our senior public service leaders in Queensland
are drawn from outside the public service.
This is interesting food for thought given the
vital role that senior management plays in the
creation of quality public service workplaces.
I also won’t let this opportunity pass without
mentioning that women make up only 26.3%
of the Queensland Senior Executive Service,
a figure which has remained fairly static since
2003 and indicates that women are not in
leadership roles in the numbers or proportion
that we would have hoped for, or expected.
The leadership approaches I’ve just
discussed require thinking more clearly about
our pitch and proposition – in particular,
what is it that makes the Queensland public
service an attractive place to work? Why would
people choose to work in the Queensland
public service rather than somewhere else?
Finding answers to these questions is critical
if we are to effectively compete in the tight
labour market we have at the moment.
It is going to mean targeting our ‘offer’ to
different groups: becoming more agile and
responsive to different people’s aspirations
because we know people want more than just
a 40-year career in just one area these days.
Third, we need a motivated and skilled
workforce ready to meet the modern challenges
of public service. Many of the services provided
by government to the community require
expert skills and judgement. Approximately
half the Queensland public service workforce
requires a tertiary qualification to do their
job. Given this reliance on skilled workers,
planning for and investing in the future
supply of staff is essential. High-performance
organisations ensure an ongoing commitment
to the training and professional development
of all employees, regardless of their level,
occupation or role. Paying attention to the
needs of individual employees, including what
motivates them, has never been more important
than in the current labour market.
The public service needs to continue to
closely examine issues such as quality of
working life, job and career satisfaction and
look at ways to overcome cultural or attitudinal
barriers to change. Through retaining current
staff we will be able to ease some of the skills
supply issues we are facing now. To do this
we need to pay more attention to who is
leaving the Queensland public service, and the
reasons why they are going. People often leave
organisations as a result of ‘people’ issues.
Quality of leadership, recognition, training
and development, and career opportunities
are usually high on the list of reasons why
people go looking for work elsewhere.
To keep our people in Queensland we should
build on the existing professional ethos of
the public service. Clearer alignment between
public sector values and daily behaviour
so that all public servants, including
leaders, are ‘walking the talk’, might also
be encouraged.
Best Practice Advice Project
Finally, we need to be able to deliver on
our promises to applicants that the public
service offers a wide range of challenging and
rewarding jobs. I support the Commission’s
view that public service Chief Executive Officers
continue to be accountable for the outcomes
and services to be delivered by their individual
agencies. They will also continue to lead their
agency’s response to their unique workforce
challenges. However, in some cases, responses
to these workforce challenges might involve
a collaborative approach across agencies.
Agencies with common occupations in demand
could be encouraged to conduct cross-agency
workforce planning, offering coordinated
career opportunities and education pathways
that span all stages of public service careers.
As a result, these agencies might offer
coordinated career opportunities and
education pathways that span all stages of
public service careers.
blic
2008 Annual Pu
eaking at the
Ann Sher ry sp e
nfe re nc
Secto r Co
In addition to accountability for CEOs,
the way of the future must be for increased
accountability and clarity about purpose for all
public servants at all levels in all agencies.
The fourth priority I would like to talk
about is partnering for outcomes. It is clear
to me, and to many others, that the complex
and intractable problems, like closing the
gap on Indigenous health, the challenges
of obesity, chronic disease, life chances and
Public Interest - December 2008 19
PRIORITEIS AND PITFALLS
Priorities and Pitfalls
for the Queensland Public Sector by Ann Sherr y
infrastructure cannot be met by single agencies
acting alone.
Let me give you a few examples from the
Toward Q2 work:
• The environment target to cut
Queenslanders’ carbon footprint.
• The health target to cut obesity, smoking
and drinking.
• The communities target to increase
volunteering.
Clearly these involve each and every one
of us – not relying on single agencies but
working across government and with the
community. I talked before about the need
to break down silos. There is also a need to
build a partnership model between agencies.
The focus needs to be on the delivery of client-
centred services. We also need to be prepared
to develop mutually beneficial partnerships
with the community, with stakeholders,
with businesses and with voluntary groups
to achieve outcomes. We all have an
important role in reaching the outcomes we
want, particularly as Government may not
always be the best placed provider of some
services. How can we partner for outcomes?
I believe it is incumbent on our leaders to
drive this approach and ‘walk the talk’.
But we also need new and innovative thinking
– like how we can bring together the respective
roles different groups can play, and how we use
incentives and rewards for collaboration and
partnership. New governance arrangements
can also be part of supporting new service
delivery strategies.
My fifth point is that we need to continue
to engage and involve the public in the design
of services. By this I mean the what, when,
where, and how services are delivered to each
and every one of us. Exciting work has been
done in engaging the Queensland community
in the work on Q2. I’m sure you will have
seen the television adverts and may also have
participated in one of the many community
events going on across the state. So far we
have had over two thousand ideas come
20 Public Interest - December 2008
back to us from Queenslanders. These will be
important for the next stage of the work to
develop the strategies and community plans
to deliver. We can take these lessons further.
We need public services that are outward
looking and involving. The client’s perspective
is a key aspect to be considered in the design
of future services. We need to be alert to the
experiences of users as they journey through
public services. What we do know is that
government clients expect services that are
easily accessible. They want quick and simple
transactions and readily available responses to
more complex issues.
We need to find new ways to increase
the control and ownership clients have
over services. So as people now have more
choice and control in the private sector,
so too people are beginning to demand it from
public services. This is about coproduction:
government providing excellent services with
users taking control and ownership to together
produce the positive outcomes we all want.
Government needs to be in a position to
‘instil a sense of shared responsibility with
the community’. Government cannot solve
problems alone and will need the participation
and effort of individuals. I think there’s an
important deal here. Public services earning
client trust by resolving service issues quickly
and effectively, and providing excellent
and personal services. In return asking the
community to make changes too and take
personal responsibility for behaviour and how
they use services.
The challenge now is not to fall at the
hurdle for change. The first pitfall would be
being pessimistic about whether we can create
change. The public service has a broad range
of staff and departments providing a diversity
of services to the community on a daily basis.
Some would say that public services are too
complex to change. I don’t share that view.
There are important lessons we can distil and
share across different areas of public service.
And we should take a long-term view - as Geoff
Mulgan says: governments often overestimate
what can be achieved in the short-run, but
critically underestimate what they can change
in the long-run. Big companies can and do
change – government is a big company.
In my view, our second pitfall would be
failing to prioritise. I think we all know that we
cannot change the public service overnight.
It will take time and a concerted effort. So this
means prioritising around some key themes.
I have talked about some of those key themes
today. Over the next year I want to see the
Public Service Commission developing ideas
that will address these key themes. The Premier
and the Commissioners want to see a smaller
number of ideas that will work well and make
a real difference – let’s not try to implement
fifty ideas and have them work patchily, or not
at all. I know this will be an important test for
the Public Service Commission: to establish
ourselves as a world-class organisation we
will need credibility, focus, and attention on
results. The test, to again quote the Premier,
is that we all ‘feel the winds of change’.
Conclusion
For me, it is an exciting time to be chairing
the Board of the Public Service Commission
and being part of the reform of the Queensland
public service. We have an ambitious vision
ahead of us. I’m optimistic about the sector’s
capacity to respond having now seen the work
that is being undertaken in the Queensland
public service, and the valued contributions
that all officers are making. This journey to
the future has begun. We now all need to play
our part so the challenges can be managed
and the outcomes achieved.
Ann Sherry is Chair of the Public Service
Commission and CEO of Carnival Australia.
Footnotes
The Hon Anna Bligh, Premier, Public Service Bill Second Reading
Speech to the Parliament of Queensland, 6 May 2008
Robert F Kennedy, Day of Affirmation Speech, Cape Town, South
Africa, 1966
Notes from Ken Smith’s presentation are available at www.
qld.ipaa.org.au
For further detail see: www.towardq2.qld.gov.au
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Service Delivery
Challenges - Research Papers: Workforce Sustainability,
November 2007
Hawkes’
Eye View By David Hawkes
Aboriginal Education: A Comparative Perspective
During October
I had the privilege
of attending a
Conference in
Hyderabad, India,
sponsored by the
Commonwealth
Secretariat and the
Commonwealth
Association of Public
Administration
and Management
(CAPAM) on the topic
“Innovations and
Good Practices in New
Public Management”.
The attendees,
who were at the
Permanent Secretary
and Deputy levels
represented India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Brunei,
Malaysia and
the Maldives.
A large part of the program was
devoted to case studies on public-private
partnerships as a major mechanism for
improving delivery of government services,
with a particular emphasis on poverty
alleviation and community improvement.
All these presentations demonstrated
innovative solutions in areas previously seen
as the sole responsibility of governments and
all of them reflected successful outcomes in
difficult environments.
The case study that interested me most was
that presented by Aisha Ghaus-Pasha, Director
of Research at the Institute of Public Policy
in Lahore, Pakistan. She described in detail
the engagement of private sector schools as
partners in a number of poor and backward
districts in her country in an effort to raise
the level of participation in education among
children (particularly girls) in rural areas and
urban slums.
The scheme is managed by the Punjab
Education Foundation, and involves the
provision by the state of a subsidy of around
300 Rupees (approximately $AUS10) per
pupil per month to the private sector schools.
The curriculum is entirely in English, in contrast
to the government schools where English is but
one subject in the curriculum. The Government
schools are not capable of delivering a full
English curriculum at this cost.
The education vision is to:
• achieve universal primary education
by 2015;
• achieve gender equality at all levels
by 2015;
• create economic opportunities for the
poor with the help of education;
• empower communities through education;
• increase access to all communities to
physical and social assets.
If these objectives sound familiar, you
have no reason to go any further than
the long standing debate on the issue of
Aboriginal education in Australia, particularly
in the Northern Territory. These issues have
HAWKES’ EYE VIEW
been highlighted during the Commonwealth
Intervention and have been the subject of
earnest debate and substantial expenditure for
decades without any discernible improvement.
The Pakistan initiative has been in operation
since 2004.
While issues and challenges remain,
including coverage in particular, the scheme
is being extended and the relative simplicity
of the arrangements are seen as a major
reason for success. The extraordinary level of
participation and attendance is seen to be
directly related to the fact that the curriculum
is in English. Both students and parents see
literacy and numeracy in English as the key
to “Babu” – future prosperity of themselves
and their community.
This naturally led me to question the
validity of maintaining teaching in Aboriginal
languages to the extent currently observed
and mandated. While most people would
see the preservation of Aboriginal language
as an inherent part of the maintenance of
the Aboriginal culture and endorse the
sentiments expressed in David Malouf’s classic
story “The Only Speaker of his Tongue”,
there is a growing body of thought among
Aboriginal leaders, such as Tracker Tilmouth,
Warren Mundine and Noel Pearson, that the
curriculum in Aboriginal schools should be in
English if people in remote communities are to
have any real prospect of achieving economic
development and independence.
While the circumstances within Pakistan
are different to Australia, the issues are the
same. While we may not be capable, at
least in the short term, of develop effective
public-private partnerships for the delivery of
educational services to remote communities,
we could challenge the current language of
the curriculum and the belief that it is the one
of the keys to the preservation of traditional
culture. As Pakistan has found, there are
other methods of preserving local language
in conjunction with an educational regime
focused on English.
Public Interest - December 2008 21
A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL IN NEW YORK
Imagining how
it would be to work
on world issues
is one thing;
having the
opportunity to
experience it is
a whole other
world in itself.
From George Clooney
to Secretary-
General’s campaign
on violence against
women, it was all
an unforgettable
experience.
22 Public Interest - December 2008
A young professional
in new york
By Chandni Gupta
In January this year I packed my bags
and with a huge grin on my face, I headed
over to the United States for a two-month
public relations internship at the United
Nations headquarters.
When preparing for my trip, there was
so much anticipation. I was excited about
working in a new place, meeting new people,
being part of new projects and experiencing
it all in the beautiful city of New York.
What is even more exciting is that the
experience surpassed my anticipation.
The Work
During my time at the UN, I was based
in the Department of Public Information
and worked on two global media campaigns
– launch of the Secretary-General’s UNite
to End Violence Against Women campaign
and International Women’s Day 2009.
My work ranged from pitching the campaigns
to celebrities’ agents and to editors and
journalists of various global media outlets
like New York Times, CNN, BBC and
Guardian to working with UN agencies like
UNICEF and UNIFEM to shape their role in
the campaigns.
Dealing with international media,
spokespersons and staff really made me
appreciate the effort of making a global
campaign work. It was amazing to experience
first-hand how the focus of one campaign
could be delivered in so many different ways.
Most importantly, it was a great feeling to
know that the work I was doing would in some
MEMBER Snapshot
Jen
Rossiter
Position
A/Director,
WorkforUs
Agency
Queensland Health
Location
Brisbane
way positively contribute towards shaping the
lives of so many women around the world.
The City
Working on such projects was incredible
but working on them in the middle of
Manhattan, New York was just wonderful.
The city, the crowd, the snow, the lights,
the shopping… there was nothing that wasn’t
in New York. The atmosphere was always
buzzing be it seven in the morning or one
at night. It was overwhelming yet beautiful,
strong yet dreamy, grand yet intricate.
The People
People of New York were so welcoming
and are a huge factor of what makes New
York so special. And when it came to people
at the UN, the place had so much to offer.
During my internship, I had the opportunity
to meet George Clooney when he was
appointed as the UN Messenger of Peace.
Through my role, I also attended press
conferences featuring Reese Witherspoon,
Richard Branson and Daryl Hannah.
Apart from the celebrities, it was actually
my UN colleagues who were the real stars.
The experience I had wouldn’t have been
possible if it wasn’t for the wonderful
colleagues that I got to work with. They were
so supportive and were willing to put a lot of
faith in me and the other interns, giving us the
opportunity to show what we could offer.
If you could change one thing –
what would it be?
The current economic environment as many
people are concerned about what this means
for their ability to retire, own their home,
employment, career opportunities etc.
If you were PM for a day, what would
you do?
Fund the health agreements appropriately so as
there is some chance in addressing the public
health issues in the future.

Working on such projects was incredible
but working on them in the middle of Manhattan,
New York was just wonderful.
ping
a spot of shop
have time for
Chandni did
The Support
As riveting as it was being amongst so
many new people, my time there showed me
just how supportive Government here is in
ensuring that a staff member can take the
time off to experience something so left-field.
My director and manager were so supportive
of my internship and rearranged and managed
so much to make sure that I could go.
It was lovely to know that as good as it was
in New York, I had a fabulous team to come
back to.
The Memories
The experience has given me so much.
It has instilled confidence in me that earlier
I could have only dreamt of. Most importantly,
the people I met, be it my UN colleagues,
the other interns or local New Yorkers, it was
them that shaped my time there and made my
experience exceptional.
What’s your favourite read?
Autobiographies as I like to read about people’s
life experience and journey – am currently reading
one on Dawn French, the English comedian.
What do you like most about the
Public Sector?
Delivering programs that benefit the community
directly and the spirit in which most public sector
people have to ensure this occurs. I am from
North Queensland and saw this spirit openly when
Cyclone Larry devastated the Innisfail area where
many of my family members live.
A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL IN NEW YORK
Chandni Gu
A view of the Manhattan Skyline from the UN pta with ot
her UN inte
rns
The work, the perks, the celebrities –
that’s all fun but it’s the people you meet
that make the experience what it is. And if
for nothing else, but just to meet new people,
to build your network of support and strength,
it’s worth pushing yourself out of your comfort
zone in a whole other world because before
you know it you’ll realise that’s exactly what
your world needed.
UN internships are available for post-
graduate students across the world. For o the UN
y dropped int
more information visit www.un.org/Depts/ Geor ge Cloone
OHRM/sds/internsh/index.htm
Who do you admire and why?
I admire people who learn from their mistakes
and are humble enough to recognise their errors
in the first place. There are many people in my
life who do this and they all continue to grow
women in my life so I would keep on asking
and develop in front of my eyes.
them questions and seeking advice as I too try to
Who would you choose as a coach and why? balance it all myself.
Without naming names I would choose a number
of women who have balanced family, work, Would you recommend the Public Sector
community, self throughout their career and to work in?
are genuinely happy with their achievements Absolutely, to people who are driven by their
and situation. There are a few of these amazing desire to make a difference to the community.
Public Interest - December 2008 23
TUCKER’S BOX

tucker’s box By Doug Tucker

The Rise and Decline of Queensland Local Government

For students and There are also examples of enlightened

and effective policy formulation, and all in all,
practitioners of public Queensland can probably boast the best record,
thanks largely to the vision and understanding
policy formulation, of some exceptionally far-sighted political
the treatment by leaders, senior public servants, and jurists
during the first half of the 20th century.
Australian state I refer here to the sophistication and
governments of intellectual grasp of such luminaries as Labor
Premier T.J. Ryan, Home Secretaries “Big Bill”
local governments McCormack, James Stopford and Ned Hanlon,
around Australia Assistant Under Secretary Charlie Chuter,
and the youthful but distinguished
Naturally, Parliament could now entrust
greater responsibilities to local councils
elected on the same basis as Parliament itself.
The problem was to do this without cluttering
the enabling legislation with a huge but
inevitably incomplete list of specific powers
and functions.
The brilliant Charlie Chuter soon hit upon
the solution: as democratic local councils
were now fully legitimate local governments,
they should be granted a general power to
govern, or “general competence power”.

furnishes plenty of
examples of how
public policy should
not be conceived and
implemented.
Solicitor-General William Flood Webb.
Of course, these men had the advantage
of standing on the shoulders of giants like
Samuel Griffith and Thomas McIlwraith,
who played a pivotal role in establishing
Queensland local government.
All these people understood that local
self-government, like universities and
locally owned and operated media, are vital
diversifying institutions in society: they help
to maximise freedom of choice, and thus help
express and accommodate the diverse needs
and aspirations of local communities.
And so Ryan, McCormack and the others
between them democratised local councils in
1920, transforming them from being mere
property-owners’ associations with limited
community legitimacy to fully legitimate,
democratic assemblies based on the
adult citizen (not ratepayer) franchise
exercised triennially.
According to one long-serving, senior state
public servant, these developments, “together
with the election of the Mayor or Chairman,
raised the status of these local personages
and the Aldermen and Councillors to such
an extent [that they] created jealousies of no
mean order.”
It took New South Wales another 20 years
to democratise local government, with other
states taking even longer.
This power authorises local government,
in essence, to undertake for the community’s
benefit, any function not in conflict
with any Commonwealth or State law
(or settled policy).
Parliamentary Draftsman John Woolcock
opposed the idea but Solicitor-General Webb
firmly endorsed it.
Parliament thereupon initially bestowed
the general competence power on the new
Greater Brisbane City Council in s.36 of the
City of Brisbane Act 1924.
At that council’s inaugural meeting on 3rd
March 1925, Home Secretary James Stopford
explained what this power amounted to.
He told the council: “You have a simple
Charter conferred upon you by Parliament –
it does not lay down any hard and fast
rules – you will take your authority for the
work that you will carry out by Ordinances
[now “local laws”] which you will consider
at your Council table, and which will have
legislative effect immediately it is assented to
by the Order-in-Council...
“Contrast that with the powers of the
old authority [i.e. the former Brisbane
city Council] and you will realise the great
power that is placed in your hands as rulers
of the destiny in local government matters
of the great area that will be brought under
your control.”

24 Public Interest - December 2008


Democratic advantages aside, these arrangements not only offered the
benefits of scale economies through horizontal integration, but also scale economies
through vertical and circular integration.
Indeed, the legislation not only defined
a greatly expanded City of Brisbane,
but transferred to the newly elected council
an impressive range of new powers and
functions. These included electricity supply,
water supply and sewerage, tramways,
pest control and others previously vested in
unelected special-purpose bodies.
Democratic advantages aside, these
arrangements not only offered the benefits
of scale economies through horizontal
integration, but also scale economies through
vertical and circular integration.
In 1936 the general competence power,
having proven successful in Brisbane,
was extended to all other Queensland local
governments in the completely revised and
much admired Local Government Act brought
down by Health and Home Affairs Secretary
Hanlon.
In the House, Hanlon explained that
the ultra vires rule was so restrictive that,
for instance, local councils’ existing power to
regulate dogs evidently did not authorise them
to regulate specific breeds (e.g. Alsatians).
Hence an amending statute was needed to
remedy the problem.
However, under his new statute, councils
would have “the widest powers. I doubt if there
is anything in the world so wide delegated to
the local authorities. They can make by-laws
on any question whatever...”
Mr Moore (interjecting): “Even Alsatian
dogs?” Mr Hanlon: “Anything at all,
even members of parliament. Anything that is
not illegal under some other Act of parliament
is now to be a function of local government.
That is as it should be.”
The Forgan-Smith Labor government
had clearly recognised that democratically
elected local councils, with their potential
for maximum responsiveness to their local
communities, entitled them to exercise a
general competence power: the constraints
imposed by local public opinion and the ballot
box were a more than adequate substitute for
the ultra vires rule.
By mid-century, then, these unique
developments had helped local government
cope with the Great Depression and two world
wars, marking the zenith of their fortunes.
Subsequently, a steady decline begins.
State governments on both sides of politics
either fail to bring certain services outside
Brisbane under full democratic control;
or transfer important powers and functions
from elected councils to unelected
special-purpose statutory bodies; or both.
By the 1980s and 90s, the growing
influence of managerial ideology in national,
state and local government (at the expense of
local leadership) was obvious. This tendency
was an aspect, in turn, of the growth of
“rationalisation” in many countries that
sociologist Max Weber described, analysed,
and deplored.
Hence the Goss government’s new
and unwieldy Local Government Act 1993
clearly showed the influence of ongoing
rationalisation. As recounted elsewhere, the
Act for example transferred the chief executive
role from elected mayors to appointed town
clerks, who now formally became CEOs.
Other significant rationalising
requirements, such as the mandatory adoption
of accrual instead of cash accounting for even
the tiniest (in population and revenue) shires,
were likewise included.
Subsequently, Queensland local government
experienced a substantial instalment of
regionalisation and a corresponding loss
of local community autonomy under the
state’s Local Government Reform Program in
April 2007. Furthermore, the government’s
takeover of significant aspects of water supply
further detracted from local government’s
importance and local democracy generally.
At present, the State government’s Local
Government Bill, if enacted, strengthens
CEO powers; and weakens elected leaders
still more by, for instance, empowering the
Minister to suspend individual mayors and/or
councillors, and to recommend their dismissal
to the government – probably without debate
in the House.
TUCKER’S BOX
The Bill will likely be enacted, perhaps
with minor changes. Meanwhile, some rural
communities continue their long decline
into social and economic non-viability.
Yet vigorously led local councils and supportive
state governments might do much to counter
this trend.
Meanwhile the south-east’s force-fed
growth and less reliable rainfall threaten
soaring water prices, loss of agricultural
land, infrastructure backlogs, more traffic
congestion, and more pollution.
Priorities and Pitfalls
for the Queensland Public Sector by Ann Sherr y
Footnotes continued from page 20
Public Service Commission, 2008
Public Service Commission, 2008
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Service Delivery
Challenge - Research Paper 5: Workforce Sustainability,
November 2007
Public Service Commission, 2008
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Occasional Paper
05/08, Sustaining the Queensland public service workforce
in a tight
labour environment, 2008
Margaret Wheatley, Is the pace of life hindering our ability
to manage? Management Today, March 2004
www.treasury.qld.gov.au
Jesse Jackson, Democratic National Convention Address,
18 July 1984
Public Service Commission, 2008
John C Maxwell, The 17th Irrefutable Laws of Teamwork, 2001
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Executive capability
development in the Queensland public service, June 2006
Public Service Commission, 2008
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Draft Queensland
Government Workforce Sustainability Strategy 2007-2017,
Unpublished
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Draft Queensland
Government Workforce Sustainability Strategy 2007-2017,
Unpublished
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Draft Queensland
Government Workforce Sustainability Strategy, 2007-2017,
Unpublished
More details on the Target 140 Campaign can be found at:
www.target140.com.au
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Occasional Paper
05/08, Sustaining the Queensland public service workforce in
a tight labour environment; 2008; Office of the Public Service
Commissioner, Occasional Paper 06/08, Our service delivery
challenge, 2008
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Occasional Paper
05/08, Sustaining the Queensland public service workforce
in a tight labour environment, 2008, p4
Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Occasional Paper
05/08, Sustaining the Queensland public service workforce
in a tight labour environment, 2008
Geoff Mulgan, Prospect Magazine, issue 110, May 2005 -
www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=6888
Public Interest - December 2008 25
 YP Update
yp update

By Tanya Hornick

Young Professionals busy planning for 2009

Have you ever The Young Professionals Committee

encourages young professionals to be
wondered what the more involved in IPAA Queensland.
As such we are an advocate for young
Young Professionals professionals, provide an understanding
ideas to the 2009 IPAA National Conference
Organising Committee. The conference is a
fantastic opportunity to hear high quality
and profile speakers and network with people
from across the state and nation. We look

Committee do? of young professionals, needs and issues,

and influence IPAA Queensland directions,
forward to seeing you there! Stay tuned for
more information.
The goal of the services and products.

Young Professionals The Young Professionals Committee

has a strategic focus, including understanding
Committee is to and informing IPAA Queensland of

support the interests, YP needs and views and encouraging young

professionals to be more involved with
involvement and IPAA Queensland.

development of The Young Professionals Committee

recently welcomed a new committee member, Young Professionals Committee members:
young professionals Chris Morrison. Chris is from the Brisbane
CHAIR Tanya Hornick
City Council where he is the Principal Officer
in the pursuit of Built Environment and Land Use in the
Australian Bureau of
Statistics

excellence in public Family and Community Services Division.

Chris is actively involved in the Brisbane City
MEMBER

Carmen Smith
Queensland Tourism
administration Council Youth Forum. The committee is always MEMBER Anita Hicks
Dept of Tourism, Regional
through the exchange looking for new committee members, so if you
would like to be involved please contact us at
Development and Industry

of ideas, discussion yps@qld.ipaa.org.au MEMBER

Megan Duynehoven
Public Trust Office

of trends, and The committee has been busy planning

for 2009, including planning for the CEO
MEMBER

Rob Rose
Queensland Police
promotion of best Breakfast to be held during Youth Week. MEMBER Stewart Saini
We are keen to hear your thoughts and ideas Dept of Communities
practice. and will be sending out a short survey in MEMBER Chandni Gupta
the near future. If you have any ideas for Disability Services
Queensland
the committee you can always email us at
yps@qld.ipaa.org.au MEMBER Chris Morrison
Brisbane City Council
The big event next year will be the
2009 IPAA National Conference to be held
in Brisbane on 19 and 20 November 2009.
The Young Professionals are contributing

26 Public Interest - December 2008

IPAA Queensland

ipaa queensland
Update
New face with IPAA Queensland baby on the way

A New Baby for a New Year
IPAA Queensland’s Executive Manager
– Membership & External Relations,
Eden Platell is taking some time off to have
a baby. Eden oversees all of IPAA Queensland’s
events, membership and marketing activities,
including producing your quarterly copy of
the Public Interest.
Eden and her husband Jim (whose wedding
pic was featured in an IPAA Queensland
update several issues ago) are expecting their
first baby in January.
Replacing Eden while she takes
6 months leave is smiling new face,
Melanie Mead. Melanie comes to IPAA
Queensland with experience from organisations
like QR, RSL Queensland and Sirromet Wines.
Melanie starts in December so please say
hi if you see her at one of our events or
training courses.
d
nslan
Quee lth
Hea te
ora
Corp es
ic
Ser v
m
Foru
IPAA Queensland was very proud to
Eden Platell support Queensland Health’s Corporate
Services Forum in August.
The forum brought together people from
all areas of Corporate Services including
finance and HR and was a great chance
for IPAA Queensland staff to mingle with
members & clients.
IPAA Queensland had its famous massage
chairs giving free massages at the forum and
also held a book stall with offerings from
the IPAA Queensland Online Bookstore.
We also had a number of prizes on offer
including a learning and development voucher
and some great book packs.
Congratulations to the organisers for a
great forum!

ger – Training
IPAA Queensland Executive Mana
managed to
& Development Siobhan McCarville
Director Michael
catch up with Corporate Services
s function as part
Kalimnios during the poster award
of the conference

Public Interest - December 2008 27

2009 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
TAK H B5DBSNQ
the 2
CHANGING CLIMATE
ADAPT s INFLUENCE s THRIVE

19/20 November, 2009

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Southbank | Brisbane

The Countdown has begun!

Mark the date in your diary now and
sign up for conference updates at
www.ipaanationalconference.org.au

sub
Conference themes...
RISING ‘C’ LEVELS
SUSTAINABLE
The Public Sector is under
pressure to research, develop
and articulate effective policy
frameworks and to deliver
practical outcomes.
These expectations fly across a
number of ‘C’ levels including:
• competence
• collaboration
• community
• consultation
• capacity
• costs
SURVIVAL OF THE
FITTEST
Change is happening at an
unparalleled rate.
This is more true for the
demanding policy development
environment than most other
situations. Keys to meeting this
challenge involve:
• agility
• a clear focus on real
objectives
• a sharp sense of balance
between political and
operational imperatives
WARMING TO GLOBAL
TRENDS
Learning from and contributing
to what we know is happening
elsewhere must be a key
element of the new climate.
Experiences from countries
of a common Westminster
tradition to Australia’s, as well
as those of different traditions
should be examined for
possible adaptations that add
value to public administration in
the new era.
SUSTAINABLE
PRACTICE
Sustainability implies renewable
resources, restrained
consumption, efficiency of
production and a long-term view
of planning and strategising.
For public administration these
principles are paralleled in:
• a rejection of process overload
• a focus on aspirational
planning and strategising
including inspirational and
creative approaches to policy
information
• adopting a philosophy of
optimism and positive force

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting

at the conference?
Call (07) 3228 2800 for further information