Whatever Happened to Frank and Fearless?
The impact of new public management on the Australian Public Service
Authored by: Kathy MacDermottPlease read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
Description
In this evidence-based and closely argued work, Kathy MacDermott plots the changes in the culture of the Australian Public Service that have led many contemporary commentators to lament the purported loss of traditional public service values of impartiality, intellectual rigour and — most importantly — the willingness of public servants at all levels to offer frank and fearless advice to their superiors and their ministers. MacDermott brings to her analysis an insider’s sensibility and a thorough forensic analysis of the impact of some 20 years of relentless administrative ‘reform’ on the values and behaviour of the APS. Although this story has its beginnings in the Hawke-Keating eras, MacDermott convincingly argues that structural and cultural change compromising the integrity of the public service reached its apogee towards the end of the eleven years of the Howard government. This is a ‘must read’ for students of Australian political and administrative history. MacDermott offers cautionary observations that the new national government might do well to heed.
Details
- ISBN (print):
- 9781921313912
- ISBN (online):
- 9781921313929
- Publication date:
- Jul 2008
- Imprint:
- ANU Press
- DOI:
- http://doi.org/10.22459/WHFF.07.2008
- Series:
- Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
- Co-publisher:
- The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
- Disciplines:
- Arts & Humanities: History; Social Sciences: Politics & International Studies, Social Policy & Administration
- Countries:
- Australia
PDF Chapters
Whatever Happened to Frank and Fearless? »
Please read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
- Preliminary (PDF, 648KB)
- Author Profile (PDF, 78KB)
- Acknowledgments (PDF, 78KB)
- Foreword (PDF, 82KB)
- Overview (PDF, 106KB)
- A failure of public administration? (PDF, 398KB)
- The regime of contestability (PDF, 186KB)
- Individual performance management and assessment and ‘assumption cultures’ (PDF, 746KB)
- Devolution (PDF, 205KB)
- Aligning the service: the impact of workplace relations (PDF, 0KB)
- To market, to market: outsourcing the public service (PDF, 196KB)
- Reforming the reforms? (PDF, 132KB)
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