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.

As at June 2018, approximately 49% of all public sector executives were women despite women comprising 69% of the sector.  Further to this, only 23.5% of Senior Management Council (Chief Executives of core SA Government agencies) are women. While often perceived as being only an issue for women; gender inequality in the workplace impacts everyone. Men also benefit from increased gender equality and more equal gender roles.

The Women in Leadership Summit invited men and women in the public sector to work together to achieve improved gender equality.  The summit discussed what would be required to achieve 50% of the Senior Management Council being women and overall increases in gender equality across leadership roles. Delegates heard from our industry leaders and experts on the barriers to gender equality, and gained practical tips, tools, and advice on making the most of their opportunities to help make a change.

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.