This Month
The man maximising every dollar of Victoria’s public coffers
Victoria’s new Treasury secretary Chris Barrett explains why he switched from consulting to the public service and reveals the best thing he learnt from studying at Princeton.
- Tom Burton
‘Heart not head’: What drives the woman reforming the NDIS
Rebecca Falkingham on the two women who changed her life, the best career advice she got, and how kicking a soccer ball with her kids is her “meditation”.
- Tom Burton
Meet the ex-Deloitte partner overhauling the IR system
Ex-Deloitte partner Natalie James doesn’t plan to emulate a consulting firm at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, but she refuses to give up some habits.
- Ronald Mizen
November
Michael Coutts-Trotter’s best advice for the young and ambitious
The NSW Treasury secretary explains how to test decisions, work with political staffers, the best way to build a career – and his love of steel-cut oats.
- Tom Burton
The woman at the heart of your data protection
Amid rapid technology change, federal privacy and information commissioner Angelene Falk has had to learn how to anticipate the harmful effects on consumers.
- Tom Burton
A top spy shares her best career advice for success
The woman running one of Australia’s key intelligence agencies is not a morning person, schedules meetings after 9.30am, and most fears the threat from within.
- Tom Burton
October
Election boss Tom Rogers on how social media changed democracy
The Australian Electoral Commissioner, fresh from delivering the Voice referendum, explains why taking risks and having a crack is the best career advice.
- Ronald Mizen
How consulting made Blair Comley a better public servant
The incoming Health Department boss has helped reform the GST, design Kevin Rudd’s carbon reduction scheme and Julia Gillard’s carbon tax. He answers our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
Meet the top tax bureaucrat who can’t stand liars
Tax Inspector-General and Tax Ombudsman Karen Payne talks about what big law can teach the APS and her love of Ennio Morricone, in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
September
How the 80:20 rule makes Danielle Wood more productive
The incoming boss shares her defining career moments, best advice, love of authors Anna Funder and Zadie Smith and her plans for change in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
Why being a nurse and working for Kevin Rudd changed Steven Kennedy
The Treasury Secretary shares his defining career moments, best advice, love for alternative Australian music from the 1980s in our public servant Q&A.
- Ronald Mizen
