In this issue, you will read about: 

- different models of joined- up government and when to use them 
- how leadership styles and gender norms influence ministerial performance 
- acute workforce pressures in the aged care sector 
- the role of data in the economy and national strategy 
- the 2022 report card on the health of Australians 
Plus what I’m reading. 

The question of how public sector agencies can best work together is central to tackling the complex public policy challenges. Using a range of Aotearoa New Zealand case studies, a new ebook identifies 18 model forms for joined-up government. The book rejects the idea that collaboration can be reduced to a universal best practice and instead answers the question: when should you use which model? 

Read our brief on the paper

A paper from the Institute of Government examines UK ministerial leadership styles and the impact on the relationship between ministers and public servants. It draws from over 100 interviews with former ministers from the Thatcher, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May and Johnson governments. 

Transactional vs transformational approaches 
The analysis found ministers tend to adopt one of two styles to their relationship with their departments. They either take a transactional or transformational approach. 

Transactional ministers tend to see their departments as: 
- potential challenges to be controlled 
- resources to be marshalled and optimised through effective incentives and the alignment of goals 
- posing risks to reputation that need to be minimised. 

Transformational ministers: 
- advocate for and innovate with collaborative engagement within their departments 
- adopt an incremental approach to building trust, respect and mutual understanding through a more informal and gradual process of relationship-building.  

The role of gender 
The analysis suggests that these management styles reflect gendered norms and expectations. There is some evidence that women ministers are more likely to adopt transformational than transactional approaches to leadership in their department. This is especially true of more recent women ministers. Several women ministers also identify a masculine norm of the ‘good’ minister, which they had to adapt to or reject. 

According to a new report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Australia’s aged care crisis is worse than expected with the sector facing a shortfall of around 35,000 direct aged care workers this year. If workforce shortages at this level continue, there will not be enough workers to meet the basic standards of care recommended by the Royal Commission. 

What has changed? 
The aged care workforce was already under significant pressure with staff shortages, low pay and poor working conditions. Over the past year, these issues have been amplified by the impacts of COVID-19. This resulted in even more difficult working conditions.  

A survey in early 2022 on the impact of COVID-19 on the aged care workforce found: 
- 20 per cent of workers intended to leave their employment within the next 12 months 
- 38 per cent intended to leave within the next one to five years. 

Pay rises are not enough 
Wage levels and relativities are part of the problem in attracting and retaining workers. Workers in the sector make substantially less than those working in similar roles in adjacent industries such as disability and health care. While addressing wage levels may go some way to stemming the tide of workers leaving, the industry needs to address other working conditions, such as hours and rostering, training and career progression. 

Migration is also critical to rebuilding the aged care workforce. Prior to COVID-19, around 30 per cent of the workforce were migrants. While borders re-opened in 2022, numbers of migrants remain low and visa processing times are long. Personal care workers who make up most of the aged care workforce are not currently eligible for a skilled migration visa. 

A paper from the Centre for International Governance Innovation examines data’s role in the economy and national strategy. Data can simultaneously be a commercial asset and a public good. Various types of data can be analysed to create new products and services or to mitigate complex wicked problems that transcend generations and borders. 

Data, data, data! 
Today, data is both plentiful and precious. The total amount of data created, captured, copied and consumed globally reached 64.2 zettabytes in 2020 (1 zettabyte = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes).

By 2025, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes. The World Economic Forum has argued that large troves of data are the world’s most valuable resource. 

What do we know about data? 
Data is hard to value and the value of data to society as a whole is different from the commercial value for private firms. While there is some understanding of data’s role in the economy, no one yet really knows how to: 
- balance innovation, growth and competition with the need to protect the data from cybertheft, hacking, manipulation and privacy violations. 
- mitigate the negative spillovers such as disinformation and discrimination. 

Data strategies and competitive advantage 
Governments can develop plans for data in the economy and society to: 
- encourage the responsible collection, use and sharing or analysis of data to promote sustainable development 
- signal to investors, lenders and their citizens that officials will encourage data-driven innovation while protecting from potential harms  
- achieve competitive advantage in data. 

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released Australia’s health 2022, a two-yearly report card on the health of Australians. The report also examines key health challenges facing Australia, including: the impact of COVID-19; the health of First Nations peoples; mental health; and chronic disease. 

Doing well, but there is room for improvement 
- We are living longer: life expectancy at birth was 83 years in 2020, the sixth highest among the 38 OECD countries. 
- In 2020–21, almost half (47 per cent or 11.6 million) of Australians were estimated to have one or more common chronic health conditions (diabetes, cancer, mental and behavioural conditions, and chronic kidney disease).
- We are experiencing higher rates of chronic and age-related conditions, such as dementia as people live longer.
- Older Australians use a higher proportion of hospital and other health services and 54% of all subsidised medicines were dispensed to people aged 65 and over. 
- In 2017–18, 67 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese, up from 57 per cent in 1995. 

However, some population groups have different experiences of health than others. 
- Generally, the higher a person’s socioeconomic position, the better their health. If all Australians had experienced the same disease burden as people living in the highest socioeconomic areas in 2018, the total burden could have been reduced by one-fifth (21 per cent). 
- In May 2021, almost 3 in 10 adults with disability self-reported their physical health as excellent or very good, compared with 55 per cent of adults without disability. 
The report also looks at the impact of the pandemic and three articles discuss: 
- the direct health impact on the population 
- the changes in the overall health of Australians during COVID-19 
- how COVID-19 has affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s use of health services. 

Edition #56: Why collaboration can reach an impasse

A paper in Critical Policy Studies examines the daily minutiae of collaboration, and the dynamics they set off. It is through these flows of power that we can gain insights into failures of collaborative arrangements. By putting power at centre stage and focusing on the micro level, we can better understand why collaboration can reach an impasse.

Read our brief on the article

Read past issues of The Bridge email and Research Briefs here.

Edition #55: Black swans and unknowns in public organisations

An article in Public Administration Review discusses the concepts of ‘black swans’ (unpredictable events) and ‘unknowns’ (gaps in knowledge), Using the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, 9/11 and the international withdrawal from Afghanistan, the paper: 
- examines how black swans arise in public sector organisations  
- provides recommendations on how organisations can uncover unknowns before they can go on to become black swans. 

Read our brief on the article

‘Til the next issue

Maria Katsonis

Maria curates The Bridge. She is a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Melbourne and a former senior Victorian public servant with 20 years’ experience. She has a deep understanding of public policy and public management and brings a practitioner’s perspective to the academic.