It is with great pleasure that the IPAA SA Division announces Ms Cathy Taylor as a worthy recipient of the National Fellow Award for South Australia. This award is in recognition of Ms Taylors’ enduring commitment to excellent public administration and exceptional record in relation to child, youth and family policy, program and service delivery.
Professor Peter Shergold AC, the outgoing IPAA National President, announced the new Fellows at the IPAA National Conference Gala Dinner.
“I am delighted to announce this year’s National Fellows and congratulate each of these outstanding individuals for their contribution to the study and practice of public administration,” said Professor Shergold.
The new National Fellows also include:
The National Fellow Awards were established in 1983.
At this year’s IPAA National Conference Dr Christopher Pepin-Neff from The University of Sydney and Ms Kristin Caporale from Assumption College, Worcestor Massachusetts, were announced as the winners of the 2019 Sam Richardson Award for the most influential paper published in ‘The Australian Journal of Public Administration’.
Dr Pepin-Neff and Ms Caporale won the award for their paper ‘Funny Evidence: Female Comics are the New Policy Entrepreneurs’, arguing that female comics can serve as policy entrepreneurs in public administration by using their identity to locate themselves as relevant actors, attaching solutions to problems, biasing political outcomes, benefiting from their engagement, and introducing narratives that change the emotional habitus of an audience and influence the broader public.
Professor Peter Shergold AC, the outgoing IPAA National President, announced the Sam Richardson Award winners at a gala dinner preceding the 2019 IPAA National Conference in Darwin last night.
“The article by Christopher and Kristin challenges the way we think about the theory of policy entrepreneurship — the impact of individual actors on the policy process — by looking at it through the lens of some of the world’s best female comics, from the cartoonist, author and playwright Alison Bechdel, to Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy and many others,” said Professor Shergold.
The prestigious public administration award honours the contribution of administrator, academic and lawyer, Professor Sam S. Richardson (1919-2004) to public administration study and practice in Australia.
Dr Pepin-Neff and Ms Caporale were unable to attend the dinner due to research commitments in the USA but it is hoped that they will be able to receive their awards in person at a future IPAA event.
Read Dr Pepin-Neff and Ms Caporale’s paper, Funny Evidence: Female Comics are the New Policy Entrepreneurs.
Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, sat down with us On the Couch last week to share her fascinating and diverse career history, as well as the work she is doing in her current role as Chair for the Museum Board. This was then followed by audience Q&A where Dr Lomax-Smith answered some thought provoking questions from delegates. On Behalf of IPAA SA and PwC we would like to thank Dr Jane Lomax-Smith for her insightful words as well as Nicola Craven, Director, PwC for engaging us in her role as interviewer.
It was a privilege to hear from Mr John Schutz, Chief Executive, Department for Environment and Water as he highlighted some of the highs and lows of his leadership journey. Mr Schutz shared with us some insightful advice for new leaders, as well as answering some thought provoking questions from delegates during Q&A. We would also like to thank Mr Adrian Skull, Chief Executive Officer, City of Marion for engaging us in his role as interviewer.
Leading the proceedings of the Ethical Leadership Forum, Commissioner Erma Ranieri set the scene of the discussion to take place, highlighting her passion for this issue as well as its relevance to the South Australian public sector. Commissioner Ranieri emphasised her eagerness towards what she views as the start of a learning journey, into how ethical leadership will shape the future of South Australia with this event marking the recognition of the ongoing commitment towards the topic.
We were privileged to have Premier Steven Marshall join us to address delegates as part of the forum. As part of his address he spoke to the importance of the ongoing journey towards reconciliation and encouraged delegates to join with him in this, moving forwards together for National Reconciliation Week and beyond. Additionally, Premier Marshall spoke of the need for a balance between strong governance with the pursuit of innovation. Drawing upon the recent establishment of the Space Agency here in SA he emphasised that when you dream big and think big, then the importance of ethical decision making becomes even more vital. Describing the new developments in the state, particularly at Lot 14, as an “epicentre for innovation” Premier Marshall highlighted that decision making grounded in ethics and morals is at the forefront of consideration to bring about positive action for SA.
Keynote speaker, Dr Attracta Lagan spoke to us on the importance of redefining how we view ethical decision making, and to view it as a matter of choice on the part of the organisation. She highlighted that Ethical Leadership needs to start from within the organisation and should seek to make it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing. In Dr Lagan’s view this means, creating a safe workplace context in which decision making can occur and appropriately recognise and manage risk situations where people may not make the ethical choice. Drawing upon principles of behavioural psychology, Dr Lagan also described some techniques which delegates could take back with them to their own workplace- to take the steps to creating the context for ethically based decisions.
Our other Keynote speaker, Darren Menachemson, explored how digital transformation will be a cornerstone of how we shape our approach to ethical decision making. Highlighting to us that we are indeed all participants in the digital transition, he emphasised that the way we act in the next 10 to 20 years on the ethical decisions surrounding digital transformation, will drastically shape the world for decades to come. With this firmly in mind he further examined the exciting, yet ethically demanding challenges of handling digital advancement, including guarding against bias and the unintended consequences of decisions. A key message that Darren imparted us with, was that we must look at ethical decisions through the lens of evaluating “decisions being made here and now, if they are taking us on a path to a world we want to live in”.
The Intrapreneurship Community of Practice (ICoP) is a grassroots movement unique to South Australia where like-minded folk come together to explore the challenges and opportunities of ‘Public Sector Intrapreneurship’ thinking and behaviours. The ICoP aims to enable the exchange of ideas, knowledge and learning about intrapreneurship. The community’s purpose is to strengthen Intrapreneurship capability across South Australia’s public services. The ICoP has partnered with IPAA SA to bring these ideas and knowledge to greater prominence.
“At its heart the Intrapreneurship Community of Practice is about collective learning, effectively implementing change and innovation in the public sector”. – Tim Mares, Chair, Department of State Development.
The ICoP design forums to develop organisational capacity and individual capability that enable the improved practice of intrapreneurship. This year for the fourth year in a row the ICoP have released their annual Intrapreneurship Forum with creative bureaucracy expert – Charles Landry. View forum details.
Members of ICoP who designed this years Intrapreneurship Forum:
ICoP works independently of any tier of government. Current membership is drawn mainly from State and Local Government employees but not in their official capacity. If you are interested in joining please contact, Tim Mares, tim.mares@sa.gov.au.
The Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) ACT Division is calling for nominations for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management. These pre-eminent Awards aim to encourage and recognise better practice and innovation across the Commonwealth, State/Territory and Local Governments in Australia.
The Awards aim to encourage and recognise better practice and innovation across all levels of Government in Australia. They focus on specific initiatives and are based on organisations demonstrating success against four demanding criteria. The Awards are designed to honour the achievements of public sector work groups, units and teams rather than individuals, with organisations needing to demonstrate that they are able to devise and implement innovative customer focused initiatives. Nominees must also demonstrate that their success was not accidental, but that it was the result of a methodical and sustainable approach to improving the organisation’s practices in client satisfaction, leadership, people management, change management, planning, governance and innovation.More information about the Awards is available on IPAA ACT’s website, including all nomination documentation and the Invitation to Nominate document.
The main Award category is Sustainable Excellence in Public Sector Management for which the judges may determine Gold, Silver and Commendation Awards. Two supplementary Awards, ‘Collaboration’ and ‘People and Change Management’, may be awarded at the discretion of the Judges.
Last years gold winner went to South Australian Government: Department of Primary Industry and Regions for their initiative: South Australian River Murray Sustainability Regional Economic Development Program.
Nominations for the first stage open today and close on Thursday 31 May 2018. Finalists will be notified on 18 June and will progress to a second round of nomination and judging. Award winners will be announced at a function in Canberra in October. If you require assistance with your nomination or have any further questions, please email admin@act.ipaa.org.au or contact the IPAA office on 02 6154 9800.
On the 15th of November 2017 IPAA held the annual National Conference in Canberra with the theme Thinking Differently: Building Trust.
The conference celebrated thought leaders and provocateurs discussed how to think differently and build trust. Delegates heard how the landscape is changing and how public sector leaders need to adapt. Speakers included heads of public sector departments at the federal and state level, respected academics and nationally-recognised commentators. A number of international speakers brought broader perspectives to the conversation.
A conference function was held the evening prior at the iconic National Arboretum, overlooking Canberra. The function celebrated excellence in public administration with the announcement of the winners of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management, followed by the awarding of IPAA National Fellows.
I encourage you to view the informative resources including videos of each session here and below.
VIEW GARRAN ORATION
VIEW CONVERSATION ONE
VIEW CONVERSATION TWO
VIEW CONVERSATION THREE
VIEW REFLECTIONS AND SUMMATION PANEL
Congratulations to Daniel Butler, on being named South Australia’s recipient of the 2017 IPAA National Fellow award, presented by Professor Peter Shergold AC, IPAA’s National President, at the 2017 IPAA National Awards Ceremony in Canberra. National Fellowship is the highest award that IPAA offers and in the last thirty years the Institute has awarded just over 200 Fellowships.
Dan has made a significant contribution to the development of the public sector through his passion for innovation and reform and the development of an ethical and adaptive public sector focused on the common good. He is a highly regarded professional public servant of the highest integrity who has made a significant contribution to the best practice of public administration. His core expertise is in integrated organisational performance, particularly in public institutions. It is also testimony to Dan’s outstanding contribution to the support of IPAA SA, providing much valued input on Divisional Council, Subcommittees and support at events for the benefit of the South Australian Public Sector.
Dan has been a dedicated Professional Member of the institute for over 7 years, was a member of the Divisional Council for 5 years and is now the chair of the Strategic Advisory Committee. Due to his vast experience in public sector reform, Dan curated the IPAA 2016 National Conference, which was held on 20 + 21 October 2016. He was responsible for the structure and content of the conference, and ensured that potential delegates were provided with a compelling option for professional and personal development. Now, as Principal Consultant with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Dan is currently working on developing a Public Sector Innovation Laboratory in partnership with a range of organisations.
From the team at IPAA SA, we wish to thank you for your commitment and support to the purpose of our organisation and look forward to continuing to see you inspire the South Australian public sector.
