Perspectives

Public Servants Are Trusted

Survey data illustrates New Zealanders having trust in the public services. Our level of trust in the public sector is high, towards the top of international ratings, and higher than our trust in the private sector. Contrary to many other countries, trust in public services in New Zealand has been increasing, not decreasing – even before the pandemic.

• 17 Sep 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Servant
• Trust & Confidence

Is Working from Home the Answer?

John Larkindale asks whether working from home is really the best way forward for organisations and employees.
COVID-19 has changed the workplace. Lockdown in March 2020 forced a number of organisations and individuals to develop new ways of working, in particular, working from home. While many workers have seen no change – tradespeople, surgeons (medical and tree), healthcare workers, supermarket employees – there has nevertheless been speculation that the pandemic has forever changed the nature of work, and working from home will be the new norm – or so runs the argument.

• 06 Sep 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Servant
• Public Service

A Solution to Affordable Community Facilities

Community facilities are wanted more than ever. Elle Bell sees a way to make them accessible and effective. Our story starts at Blockhouse Bay Community Centre. It’s creaky and leaky, but it’s a safe and homely part of the local neighbourhood. It hosts weekly fitness classes, school holiday programmes, and countless weddings, birthdays, and events. But Blockhouse Bay Community Centre has had a problem that plays out in thousands of communities across Aotearoa – making community facilities affordable and accessible.

• 06 Sep 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Local Government
• Public Service
• Technology

In Memory of Ivan Kwok ONZM

Ivan Kwok was a humble and effective Public Servant. He brought a set of professional qualities which set an example for all those who worked with him.

• 30 Aug 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Leadership
• Principles and Values
• Public Service
• Wellington

History Matters - The Public Service in 1914

History matters, looking back helps us move forward. So often, the challenges of today are ones that have been thoroughly traversed over many years, there are so often profound insights which public servants working today can use.

• 11 Aug 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Service

Mastering the Art of Free and Frank Advice

Attached below is the transcript of a speech made by Andrew Kibblewhite to IPANZ members in August of 2016 on the topic of Free and Frank Advice. He was then the Head of the Policy Profession and Chief Executive of DPMC. This speech offers much wisdom on the subject of Free and Frank Advice, including but not limited to, “Tell Ministers what they need to hear, not what you think they want to hear”. “Policy advice needs to be fearless. It needs to be bold in striving for new and different ways of doing things…”

• 11 Aug 2021
• Best Practice
• Policy Advice
• Public Servant

Examples of Cognitive Bias

This article outlines some common examples of biases...

• 23 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice

Auditor General’s report on the Joint Venture for Family and Sexual Violence

The Auditor General’s report on the Joint Venture for Family and Sexual Violence was released in early June. Joint ventures are a central part of the Public Service Act 2020. This very first joint venture was established in 2018, before the Act was passed. It is accountable for achieving an impact on this highly entrenched and tragic problem, where enduring outcomes will only become evident over a long period of time.

• 23 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Service
• Public Service Reform

Beginning the Work on the Long-Term Insights Briefings

IPANZ spoke to a few of the people at the “front line”, people beginning to lead the implementation of long-term insights briefings in different departments. Here are some of their thoughts.

Overall, there is a sense of optimism and excitement tinged with trepidation. These briefings are new and challenging. They are not just another accountability document and should not be treated as such. Being new, it is an experiment and opportunity to learn.

• 23 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Futures Planning
• Public Service
• Stewardship

A Sea Change in Local Government

Nedine Thatcher Swann, the Chief Executive of Gisborne District Council, sees a local government sector that is starting to make brave decisions.

• 16 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Collaboration
• Local Government
• Public Service
• Stewardship

Becoming Te Tiriti-led is an obligation, not a choice

Lana Simmons-Donaldson presents the second part of her exploration of the Human Rights Commission’s journey towards being a Tiriti-based organisation. Featured in the July 2021 Edition of the Public Sector Journal.

• 16 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Maori-Crown Relationships
• Public Service
• Te Tiriti

Learning from the 2020 COVID Budget

Improving trust in the New Zealand Government – learning from the 2020 COVID Budget Derek Gill - IPANZ, IGPS and NZIER Unprecedented fiscal stimulus COVID COVID was a difficult emergency for governments to manage that required swift action, but newly released survey data shows that in almost all countries including New Zealand emergency spending was not as transparent, accountable, or inclusive as they could be. When speed and accountability are pursued together, the public gets better services, which builds confidence that government can deliver. Public trust is critical to recover and renew our societies after COVID...

• 08 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Budget
• Trust & Confidence

Rangatiratanga and the Crown

Lana Simmons-Donaldson looks at the evolution of rangatiratanga and what it means for the Crown through three very different Waitangi Tribunal reports. One looks at claims from central North Island iwi that highlight the impact of sustained historical Treaty breaches, the second finds that 1840 rangatira did not cede their rangatiratanga (autonomy), and the third is a contemporary claim that recommends a Māori-led review of the Māori Development Act.

• 08 Jun 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Maori-Crown Relationships

Co-Design Success Factors

Co-design is used most successfully when you understand the factors listed in the attached table.

• 17 May 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Co-Design

Good Ideas Take Time

David Cameron was furious. The report just released by his favourite think tank was “insane”, “barmy” and “rubbish from start to finish”. The Tory leader went on to demand that the person responsible should leave Britain: “The sooner he gets on the ship the better.” Well, that was in 2008 and the person so exiled was me. The crime I was guilty of was to commission, edit and publish a report on urban regeneration policy. Its conclusion was simple: Politicians should allow thriving places to grow and failing places to shrink. They should also give power to local communities to take charge of their own affairs...

• 20 Apr 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Think Tanks

A View from Local Government - Local government is Community

Monique Davidson has an eye to the future in imagining local government. When we think about role of local government, it would be easy to get sucked into the confusing and naïve trap of thinking about the traditional roles of local government – the rates, the roads, the water, the red tape, and let’s not forget the rubbish. A provider of infrastructure and services. However, when I arrived in local government around 10 years ago, what I found was a sector so broad in its mandate and with responsibilities so connected to community influence, impact, and decision making that I soon realised what profound opportunities local government provides to make a real difference to the lives of people. Stewards in place making and community building.

• 14 Apr 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Local Government
• Wellington

As Presented in the Oranga Tamariki Annual Report

Annual Reports are not usually top of the list for people’s reading. So here are some key points made in the annual report -

• Lowest number of children entering care since 2004.
• Lowest number of children in custody since the establishment of Oranga Tamariki...

• 07 Apr 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Service
• Vulnerable Children

Allies: A Faster Road to Equality

Can we afford to wait 100 years before women achieve equality in New Zealand? Not many women can. But to get there faster, we need men to be part of our gender equality solutions. An article written by Kerri Du Pont from the Government Women's Network.

• 30 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Equality
• Public Service
• Public Service Reform

Iwi endorse Human Rights Commission Tiriti-Based Approach

Achieving authentic partnership with iwi is the ultimate goal of becoming a Te Tiriti o Waitangi based organisation. Lana Simmons-Donaldson explores one organisation’s partnership journey.
The Human Rights Commission has received rare endorsement from the National Iwi Chairs Forum to call itself a Tiriti-based organisation. Professor Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, and Ngāti Whatua), Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga Chair, says the endorsement is built on a relationship of trust and respect that began just before the government signed up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010. The relationship was formalised in 2020 when Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt and Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon presented to the Forum.

• 25 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Culture and Heritage
• Maori-Crown Relationships
• Public Service

Ideas to Build Public Sector Performance - Colin James

In December 2020, IPANZ hosted an event that focused on what to expect in 2021 and what ideas (radical or not) public servants might consider. Many ideas came out. IPANZ will always welcome these challenges and hope our readers do too.
Colin James was on the panel for this event. He was asked to give some “radical thoughts” on the public service – thoughts that could be picked up by public servants. Here’s what he came up with -
Putting “radical” and “public service” in the same sentence is quite a stretch. Roger Douglas found that in the 1980s – Treasury officials of that time talked of proposing reforms only to find Roger turn up with an envelope on the back of which he had sketched far more ambitious ideas. Bill English complained in 2009 that the Treasury and other departments were comfortably enclosed in a box and he was having trouble getting them out...

• 25 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Public Servant
• Public Service

It’s Time to Co-Design Government Policy and Programmes

Keitha Booth looks at how some other countries have engaged effectively with the public and asks our government agencies to lead more of this work. Government policy and programmes are often developed with little public input – yet the public are the main users of government policy or programmes. Instead of looking to the public, many policy agencies see their key stakeholders as other policy agencies. Public consultation often comes at the very end of the process, which can result in low public support for new policies or products. We need another way. Let’s lead from the centre. Let’s have a new “business as usual”. Let’s make design decisions together. Let’s build on and adapt methods being used or tested in countries similar to ours.

• 25 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Co-Design
• Public Service

When to use and not use representative deliberative processes

Drawing on the evidence collected and existing scholarship, this OECD report explores when deliberative processes have been shown to work well and when they do not.

• 11 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Democracy
• Engagement
• Wellington

Stitches in time? Realising the value of futures and foresight

This introduces you to some of the key ideas in a report published by the RSA (Royal Society for Arts) in the UK, funded by PERU (Policy Evaluation Research Unit and Metropolis). The RSA says “We invite you to be part of this change. Join our community” This is why we attach the link to the full document. Authors: Adanna Shallowe, Aleksandra Szymczyk, Ella Firebrace, Ian Burbidge and James Morrison

• 11 Mar 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Futures Planning
• Futures Thinking
• Wellington

Ministry of Possibilities - UAE

The United Arab Emirates has a Ministry of Possibilities Our two countries are very different - but all governments are trying to tackle the difficult challenges, and the UAE have chosen the following way. There may be some ideas in here to spark our thinking in New Zealand.

• 04 Feb 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Futures Planning
• Innovation
• Wellington

Climate Change Action Ideas

Here we share two examples from the summary of 100 great ideas for climate action collated and published by Apolitical. The link to the full, very large, article is at the bottom of this page. We think this is pretty inspiring, especially as we face the challenges of the climate change commission report. We hope you find something of interest for your sector.

• 04 Feb 2021
• 2021
• Best Practice
• Climate Change
• Sustainability
• Wellington