Rising 'C' Levels - Cross Cultural Community Engagement

Aboriginal Employment in the Northern Territory Public Sector

This paper describes an approach to encouraging Aboriginal employment being developed by the Northern Territory Public Service, which complements training-based programmes with a range of organisational initiatives that engage staff in action at the local level. Experience with the programme so far is discussed, and directions for further development outlined.

About the speakers

Ms Trish Angus, Executive Director, NT Department of Local Government & Housing

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Executive Director Policy and Program Development in the NT Government Department of Local Government and Housing and Sport (DLGH). Trish has extensive experience in policy development, service delivery and senior management both within government and non-government sectors, mostly in the human services fields of health, families and housing. She has a particular interest in society and community and especially how all Territorians can participate equally and meaningfully, particularly Aboriginal Territorians from remote and urban areas. Trish believes a key component of this is for Aboriginal Territorians to be active participants in the Territory’s workforce and that the NT public sector has a responsibility and also a great opportunity to lead the way. As a local Aboriginal woman and senior government bureaucrat Trish is a strong advocate of this.

Dr Garth Britton, Advanced Dynamics

Garth consults widely to private and public sector organisations and maintains an active research and teaching programme in organisational change and strategy, focussing particularly on the effects of intercultural interaction within and between organisations. He has 20 years experience in private sector senior management in several countries in Asia and Europe.

Survival of the Fittest - Extinction of the Weak?

Dysfunctional Management & Corruption: Recent ICAC enquiries

2008 was arguably the busiest year in the 20 year history of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. Three of its largest ever investigations, into RailCorp, the NSW Fire Brigades and Wollongong City Council, revealed systemic corrupt conduct involving millions of dollars in corrupt payments and gross abuses of public duty.

This presentation will canvass some of the common themes in these investigation reports including the personal characteristics of the perpetrators, the context in which they worked and the interface between public and private sectors.

A key theme linking these three investigations was the role that managers and supervisors played in allowing the corrupt conduct to take root and flourish. In some cases, the managers themselves became party to the corrupt conduct. The presentation will explore how these managers allowed themselves to become compromised, inculpated or deceived.

The presentation will also touch on the approach that the Commission takes when formulating its findings and corruption prevention recommendations in cases of systemic corrupt conduct.

About the speaker

Mr Lewis Rangott, Independant Commission Against Corruption

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Joined the ICAC in December 2003 as a Senior Corruption Prevention Officer. Since October 2006 have been the Acting Principal Officer, Local Government & Planning, a specialist position in the Commission's Corruption Prevention Division.

Worked on Commission publications and research in the areas of:

• Procurement and disposal;
• Major infrastructure and development projects;
• Lobbying;
• Probity advising; and
• Local government and planning

and investigations in the areas of:

• Local government, planning and infrastructure;
• Corrective Services;
• Public Housing; and
• Utilities

The CMC's Role in Misconduct Prevention: Effecting Meaningful Change Across the Public Sector

The Crime and Misconduct Commission is seeking new ways of embedding ethical conduct into the everyday decision making processes of its clients - the employees of public service agencies, police, local government bodies and Indigenous councils throughout Queensland.

To effect sustainable change, we are engaging with our clients by helping them build their capacity to handle complaints, build their investigative infrastructure and embed misconduct prevention capacity into their corporate response; these things comprise the devolution principle. Devolution recognises the important role management plays in identifying, responding to, and preventing official misconduct.

This presentation will outline the multi-focussed approach of the Research and Prevention Unit to devolution, capacity building and prevention. This approach has been informed by a state wide survey and Training Needs Analysis of the public sector and local government. These tools enabled us to examine the sector's capacity to address misconduct. Our approach has also been informed by an examination of 'what works and what doesn't' and relevant theories of corruption and crime prevention. The findings of these studies, and how they will be applied to devolution, will be discussed.

About the speaker

Dr Margot Legosz, Crime and Misconduct Commission

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Dr. Margot Legosz is the Director of the Research and Prevention Unit of the Crime and Misconduct Commission in Queensland. Her research experience has been primarily in the areas of sensitive public policy and criminal justice issues (e.g. sexual abuse, domestic violence, prostitution and drug abuse) and policing. She has a PhD (Epidemiology/Public Health), a Master's of Public Health (Epidemiology/Statistics), a Bachelor of Arts degree (Psychology) and a Diploma of Business.

Audience Questions

Warming to Global Trends - Working with the new World

Exploring the International Roles of 'Domestic' APS Agencies and Their Impacts

• One, briefly reviewing the limited literature that exists.
• Two, identifying and assessing the organisational impacts brought about by increased international activities.
• Three, identifying and examining some of the challenges faced by Australian government departments and agencies as they have expanded their international activities

• There seem to be six major factors that largely determine the organisation of the international work of divisions and branches in Commonwealth government.
• While the challenges of international activities faced varies by agency, there are a number of significant, common and recurring issues, notably those related to organizational design, strategy, funding, staff recruitment and workloads and intra- and inter-departmental coordination.

It is based on a detailed survey of the primary and secondary literature and, most importantly, a series of open-ended interviews undertaken by the author with officials responsible for international activities in the Commonwealth Government in the period 2007-08

About the speaker

Professor Peter Carroll, University of Tasmania

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Presentation Peter Carroll is currently a research professor in the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania, following five years as Dean and some ten years as head of various departments. His current research focuses upon the international activities of government agencies, the role and influence of the OECD, and the impact of regulatory reform. His most recent publications include the co-authoring and editing of 'Regulating International Business', published by Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, and ‘Minding the Gap – Appraising the promise and performance of regulatory reform in Australia’, published by ANU E Press, 2008.

Still Managing Upwards? Future Prospects for Performance Management in Chinese City Governments

About the speaker

Professor Jiannan Wu, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China Audio Papers Jiannan Wu is a Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at the Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research interests include government performance management, financial management, and organisation theory. Now he acts as the Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi’an Jiaotong University, the Director of the Performance Management Research Centre of Xi’an Jiaotong University, and the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Government Performance Association.

Using Performance Management to Strengthen Bureaucratic Accountability: Lessons from the People's Republic of China

About the speakers

Professor Hon Chan, City University of Hong Kong Audio Papers Presentation Hon S Chan is Professor and Head of the Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong. He received his PhD at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He is a Vice President of the Hong Kong Public Administration Association. His research focuses on civil service reforms, performance management, and the nomenklatura in the People's Republic of China.   Professor Jun Ma, Sun Yat-Sen University, China Jun Ma is Professor and Dean of the School of Government, Director of the Center for Public Administration Research, Sun Yat-Sen University. He is also the Chief Editor of the Journal of Public Administration (in Chinese). He received his PhD at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His research focuses on public budgeting and public administration in the People's Republic of China.

Audience Questions

Sustainable Practice - Sustaining the Public Sector Workforce

Ready, Steady, Grow - Managing the Boomer Exodus

Subject of Presentation:

This issue is of particular interest to the young professionals in the public service who will be expected to pick up the torch. The emerging generation x's and y's will need to be prepared to handle this exodus.

This presentation explores the shifting nature of the public sector and suggests a range of initiatives to support the transfer of responsibility across generations from authors who will be most affected by the coming change. It focuses on ways the public sector can grow to face the coming years and provides practical recommendations to meet the challenges from the perspective of young professionals.

Summary of Presentation:

Participants of this presentation will hear a discussion and potential solutions to the following questions:

• What is the scale of the baby boomer retirement? How exposed is the public service to this generational shift?
• What affect does this exodus have for the public sector and those who remain?
• How do we respond? What measures can we put in place to mitigate the negative impacts of this shift?

About the speakers Mr Noel Hanssens, Young Professionals Network NTN

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oel Hanssens has worked within the NT Public Service for the past 7 years in the information management field. He has been President of the Young Professionals Network NT for the past 18 months and a member of the NT IPAA Executive Committee. Noel has graduate and post-graduate qualifications from Flinders and Charles Darwin Universities. Noel is currently the Information Management Officer for Aged and Disability and represents the NT on a number of national committees.

Ms Dawna Turner, Young Professionals Network NT

Dawna Turner joined the NT Public Sector 11 years ago, and has worked predominantly in the areas of housing policy and organisational effectiveness. Dawna has also spent several years working internationally in Canada, the United Kingdom and the Maldives across private, community and government organisations. Recently returned to Australia, as the A/Manager Program Management Office, she is involved in the oversight of strategic housing programs jointly delivered by the Australian and Northern Territory Governments. Dawna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of International Management and is the Vice President of the Young Professionals Network NT.

Turning the Tide on Absenteeism: The APS Experience

The level of unscheduled absences in the APS continues to be at undesirable levels and rising. Studies show that the average absence for public sector employees in 2008 was 10.8 days, 35 per cent above the private sector. Costing on average $354 per employee per day, reducing workplace absence can be one of the most effective ways for agencies to improve productivity.

This presentation explores a number of approaches that public sector agencies and departments can implement to reduce workplace absenteeism and engender a culture of attendance. These include managerial and supervisory training; employee awareness and assistance programs; and, through collective agreement negotiations, linking future salary increases to improvements in the average level of unscheduled absences over the life of the collective agreement.

About the speaker

Mr Franklin Gaffney, National Native Title Tribunal

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Franklin Gaffney has extensive experience in workplace relations both in the public sector and as a legal advisor to major companies and consultant in the not-for-profit sector, in Australia and overseas. Currently, he is the Director of Corporate Services and Public Affairs at the National Native Title Tribunal.

Before joining the APS, Mr Gaffney was a Senior Associate at Mallesons Stephen Jaques and has also practiced in the European Union.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics (UWA) and a Bachelor of Law with Honours (Murdoch University). He is a Chevening Scholar, with a Master of Laws in Labour Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Mr Gaffney has a long-standing interest in workplace relations. He has lectured in the area, authored numerous articles and contributed to academic materials on the subject.

Audience Questions