This issue

– COVID-19: policy making and trust
– public service for the real world
– digital talent and skills
– Australia over 40 years
– Australia's youth
Plus what I'm reading.

Research brief: COVID-19: policy making, trust and experts  

In a crisis, choices about who to trust or distrust could make a difference between life and death. An article in Policy Design and Practice examines trust in the context of COVID-19 and the dynamic between government, experts and citizens. Read our brief on the article.

Public service for the real world

A new report from Human Learning Systems explores how government can create better outcomes by supporting actors to learn together when addressing complex challenges. The report argues a significant part of the problems experienced by the public service are due to how public management is conceived and done.  

What is Human Learning Systems (HLS)? 

The HLS approach to public management starts from exploring how the messy reality of outcomes might be achieved in an individual’s unique life context. The role of public management is to create the conditions whereby this messy reality is made possible in the most efficient and effective way. This is public service for the real world. 

Human: moral purpose 

HLS is based on the belief that the purpose of public service is to support human freedom and flourishing. This provides the moral purpose for public service. It means understanding human beings as people who live in a web of relationships (a system) which helps to define who they are.  

Learning: management strategy 

In complex environments, learning is the only viable management strategy. The public service must build a learning relationship with the public and together, continuously explore how the patterns of results (outcomes) in life as a system might change. 

Systems: unit of analysis 

Outcomes are emergent properties of people’s lives as systems. Creating outcomes requires these complex systems to produce different patterns of results. These systems therefore become the focus of HLS purpose and method. Good outcomes need healthy systems in which people collaborate and learn together. 

Digital talent and skills in the public sector ​

An OECD working paper presents a framework for digital talent and skills in the public sector. Digital skills are seen as core for all public servants, regardless of their role or tier of government.  

These skills include: 

• recognising the potential for digital transformation  
• understanding users and their needs 
• collaborates openly for iterative delivery  
• trustworthy in the use of data and technology. 

What it means for a public servant to recognise digital transformation potential 

• Able to identify and analyse practical examples of digital transformation 
• Able to identify opportunities for digital transformation in existing processes 

What it means for a public servant to understand users and their needs  

• Can identify the users affected by their work and define user needs  
• Recognises the different channels and modalities involved in the provision of a service 
• Able to map the user's journey 

What it means for a public servant to collaborate openly for iterative delivery 

• Can implement participatory approaches with users  
• Understands the value of diverse, multi-disciplinary teams  
• Has the expectation of involving policy, delivery and operational colleagues to ensure a fully-rounded perspective  

What it means for a public servant to be trustworthy in their use of data and technology  

• Understands their responsibilities around information security and data  
• Is confident in terms of digital security and password policies 
• Understands the legal requirements when handling of data to protect the privacy of citizens 

Treasury’s 2021 Intergenerational Report projects an outlook for the economy and the Australian Government’s budget over the next 40 years. It examines: 

• the long-term sustainability of current policies 
• how demographic, technological and other structural trends may affect the economy and the budget. 

COVID-19 will have lasting effects on the economy and the budget 

• The most enduring effect is likely to be a smaller population. 
• This reflects a period of sharply limited migration and a temporary fall in the fertility rate.  

Economic growth is projected to slow, largely reflecting slower population growth  

• The Australian economy is projected to grow at a slower pace over the next 40 years than it has over the past 40 years. 
• Slower population growth is the main reason for the expected slowdown in economic growth. 
• Migrants are expected to continue to be the largest source of population growth.  

An ageing population 

• The population will continue to age due to improved life expectancies and low fertility. 
• In 2060-61, 23 per cent of the population is projected to be over 65, a rise of 7 per cent from 2020-21. 
• The ratio of working-age people to those over 65 is projected to fall from 4.0 to 2.7 over the next 40 years. 

A reduction in labour force participation 

• Ageing will reduce labour force participation.  
• The participation rate is projected to decline from a record high of 66.3 per cent in March 2021 to 63.6 per cent by 2060-61.  
• This reflects the increasing proportion of older people in the population. 

The budget will improve but is projected to remain in deficit 

• After falling from a pandemic-induced high, government spending is projected to gradually increase over time. 
• Health will comprise the single largest component of spending, accounting for 26 per cent of spending in 2060-61.  
• Aged care spending is projected to nearly double as a share of the economy by 2060-61. 

Australia’s youth ​

This AIHW report brings together data about young people (aged 12–24) and their experiences of: 

• school and higher education 
• mental health and wellbeing 
• employment 
• living circumstances 
• personal relationships. 

At a glance 

• 3.2 million 15–24-year-olds lived in Australia in 2020 
• 1-in-20 were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander  
• 1-in-4 were born overseas with the largest populations from China, India, New Zealand and England  
• 9.3 per cent had a disability 

• 6 per cent were informal carers 
• around 9-in-10 were engaged in education and/or employment 
• more than 1-in-4 of 15–17-year-olds were either overweight or obese 
• the proportion of young people aged 14–24 who smoke daily has more than halved since 2001 (19.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent in 2019) 
• just over 1-in-5 (21 per cent) young people aged 15–19 reported experiencing bullying in the previous 12 months 
• at 30 June 2020: 16,100 young people aged 12–17 were living in out-of-home care - a rate of 8.8 per 1,000 young people. 
• equity and discrimination, COVID-19 and mental health were the three most important issues facing Australia for 15-19-year-olds 

1. The science of strong business writing 

This Harvard Business Review article discusses advances in neurobiology and psychology which show the brain responds to words, phrases and stories. Brain scans are revealing in new detail exactly what entices readers. Good writing gets the reader’s dopamine flowing in the area of the brain known as the reward circuit. Whether you’re crafting an email to a colleague or a brief for a decision maker, you can write in a way that activates this circuit. 

2. Declaration on government reform  

The UK Government policy paper outlines how the civil service and ministers will reform government to deliver better outcomes for citizens. 

There are three priority areas: 

• people: ensuring that the right people are working in the right places with the right incentives. 
• performance: modernising the operation of government and being objective about what is and is not working.  
• partnership: strengthening the bond between ministers and officials, and between central government and institutions outside it. 

‘Til the next issue

Maria Katsonis