This issue

– neutrality in the minister’s office 
– building agile government 
– infrastructure beyond COVID-19 
– design toolkits in the public sector 
– understanding coercive control 
Plus what I'm reading.

Research brief: Maintaining political neutrality while working in the Minister’s office​

A paper in the Australian Journal of Public Administration looks at how seconded public servants in ministers’ offices can maintain political neutrality while immersed in a highly politicised environment. Read our brief on the paper.

Building an agile government for an era of megachange ​

In an era of constant crises, this Brookings Institution report discusses the imperative for governments to be agile with the capacity to work across boundaries. It argues institutions will be better equipped to handle crises, national disasters and large-scale change by incorporating the following four principles into governmental processes: 

1. Scenario planning 
2. Surge capacity 
3. Dual-use technology 
4. A return to experienced leadership 

Scenario planning 

Scenario planning exercises can range from a tabletop exercise where decision-makers discuss options while sitting in a conference room to field exercises that mobilise people. A critical part of the exercise is the after action review: a debriefing designed to figure out what went wrong, what went right and what could be done better next time. Scenario-planning exercises can show policymakers where the sticking points are in a simulated crisis. 

Surge capacity 

Originating in medicine, surge capacity is the ability to care for an unexpected large influx of patients after a crisis event. Medical, terrorist and natural disasters create similar situations where government needs to assist citizens and community quickly with financial payments or other aid. Government can build a surge capacity out of its own employees and retired staff. 

Dual-use technology 

Disasters not only need trained personnel, they often need more equipment than in normal times. Dual-use technology refers to products and equipment that have civilian uses but can also be used for military purposes. Dual-use items are frequently found in fields such as electronics, computers, telecommunications and aviation. 

Competence over inexperience 

Scenario planning, surge capacity and dual-use technology need to become embedded in government. But none of this will happen without competent leadership. More than anything, the COVID-19 crisis has shown the importance of competence and experience in government. Experience is a necessary precondition to making the complex, agile systems discussed above work.  

Infrastructure beyond COVID-19 

This report from Infrastructure Australia assesses the causes and lasting consequences of COVID trends on infrastructure. The report found Australia has handled the pandemic well, supported by critical infrastructure services and networks that were able to reconfigure quickly and deliver differently. 

Trends shaping the infrastructure sector 

• Digitisation: A rapid shift from physical to virtual interaction with increased convenience for users and providers. 
• Decentralisation: A redistribution of demand for utilities and increased vibrancy in regional centres. There was a 200 per cent increase in net migration from capital cities to regional areas.

• Localisation: Increased utilisation of national parks and green spaces nationally. 
• Service innovation: Teaching curricula and students moved online, telehealth consultations grew, and transport services introduced new protective measures. 
• Adaptability: A responsive repurposing of infrastructure and assets plus scaling up latent capacity. 

COVID-19 related challenges to be addressed 

• mitigating growing car dependency 
• improved sorting and processing for waste 
• supporting the financial sustainability of critical services. 
• addressing areas of investment uncertainty 
• managing severe CBD impacts 
• using real time data and insights in the public sector. 

An article from the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation looks at the role of design in the public sector and the range of available design toolkits. 

Design in the public sector 

The rise of design in the public sector is tightly linked to the push for more innovative ways of running government. The rise and scaling of design has cut across four levels of government: 

1. Local government where design work focuses on interactions with citizens and draws on methodologies in service design. 
2. Regional level where design has been used to stimulate new thinking and approaches to economic and regional development. 
3. State level where design work increasingly spans from service design to embedding design methods directly in policymaking processes. 
4. International level where institutions from the EU to the UN have embraced design as a way to address complex policy issues. 

Why has design become an attractive approach?

1. The emphasis on engaging people. The inherent human-centred approach in design practice provides a range of practical methods whereby public organisations can deliver on becoming more “citizen-centred”. 

2. As a future-oriented practice, design provides a much-needed antidote to the heavy reliance on what came before.  

3. Managing complexity: Design practices fit well with the complex multi-stakeholder landscape within which most government organisations operate. Design offers tangible ways of dealing with the ongoing pressure of inclusivity and strategic collaboration. 

4. Systematic methods: Design offers well-described methods and tools that can be readily adopted by non-design actors in the public sector. 

The diversity of design toolkits 

As design has evolved over the past decade, it has given rise to the emergence of design toolkits. These are diverse and include: 

• generic design toolkits 
• experience based design 
• digital service design 
• sustainable development design 
• foresight and scenario design 

The article links to the Observatory’s Toolkit Navigator, a compendium of free innovation toolkits, playbooks and guide. This includes the design toolkits listed above. 

Defining and responding to coercive control 

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety has released a policy brief on coercive control.

What is coercive control? 

Coercive control is a course of conduct aimed at dominating and controlling another, usually an intimate partner, but it can be other family members. It is almost exclusively perpetrated by men against women. It is not violence per se but an assault on autonomy, liberty and equality. The perpetrator uses non-physical tactics and/or physical tactics to make another person subordinate and maintain dominance and control over every aspect of their life. 

The attack on autonomy can involve strategies like physical, sexual, verbal and/or emotional abuse; psychologically controlling acts; depriving resources and other forms of financial abuse; social isolation; stalking; intimidation; technology-facilitated abuse; and harassment.  

Coercive control diminishes a person’s ability to exercise their agency and autonomy. These are the very things that would enable them to leave a relationship, resulting in entrapment

Responding to coercive control 

The brief sets out three interlinked considerations that are key to effectively addressing coercive control: 

1. Harmonise definitions of domestic and family violence and its relationship to coercive control with a consistent definition across legislative and policy settings, Australia-wide. 
2. Build the evidence base on the effectiveness of criminalisation and other responses to coercive control. 
3. Reform the culture of response to domestic and family violence in and around the legal system. 

1. Hear, hear: The secrets of successful listening 

This Economist article draws on lessons from a former hostage negotiator on how to listen effectively. The aim of listening is to ascertain what the other side is trying to achieve. This involves the identification, selection and interpretation of the key words that turn information into intelligence. A good listener is always looking for facts, emotions and indications of the interlocutor’s values.  

2. Mission possible: How start-up thinking can help public projects 

The Irish Times interviewed Mitchell Weiss, former chief of staff of the Boston mayor’s office and now a Harvard Business School professor. Weiss argues that some lean start-ups practices can be applied to major public projects, ensuring better outcomes and smarter use of resources. There is a tendency to spend too much time on planning and other resources in an attempt to de-risk. Instead, he advocates adopting the “make small bets” playbook from the lean start-up movement. 

‘Til the next issue

Maria Katsonis