Unpacking lessons for the public service, starting with the Robodebt Royal Commission. In 2019, after three years, Robodebt was found to be unlawful. The Royal Commission process found it was also immoral and wildly inaccurate. Ultimately the Australian Government was forced to pay $1.8bn back to more than 470,000 Australians. In this podcast we dive deep into public policy failures like Robodebt and the British Post Office scandal - how they start, why they're hard to stop, and the public service lessons we shouldn't forget.
The moment of maximum ignorance: evaluation in public policy part 2
Three-quarters of government evaluations are commissioned to improve implementation. Two-thirds are commissioned for accountability. They're not the same thing, and building a system that serves both turns out to be harder than it looks. This episode is about the structural tension between backward-looking accountability — did we deliver what we promised? — and the forward-looking question of whether we're actually learning anything useful. Caroline argues the current measurement architecture is structurally bad at three things: it locks in categories at the moment of maximum ignorance, it treats evidence as binary when almost everything useful lives in the middle, and it has no way of capturing what you found out that you didn't know you were looking for. There's also a detour through lifts, chin hairs, tattoo-level decisions, and Marie-Antoinette's diningware. Referenced in the pod: The APS State of Evaluation report (2026) — the list of why government commissions evaluations Andrew Greenway's article on Sir Olly Robbins and The Accountability Act Adam Kucharski's article Do we need more 'aluminium-standard' evidence? Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein Tom Loosemore Universal Credit TWT episode This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
💰 ‘Not your money’: reflections from government budget season ✂️
Budget season is here — and it’s tighter than many public servants have been used to. Across Australian jurisdictions, governments are landing budgets with real constraints: restrained spending, savings packages, efficiency dividends, and the ever-popular one-in-two-out hiring freeze. In this episode, Caroline, Alison and Danielle get into what that actually means for the people who have to keep delivering. How do you lead a team through savings without poisoning the culture? What’s the difference between a genuine moral injury and just disagreeing with a prioritisation decision? And is the blunt force of FTE targets and advertising bans the problem — or just a feature of a system that has tried everything else? They also get into the real work: Danielle on essential vs lovely and what service redesign actually looks like when the envelope gets tighter, plus the Stockdale paradox, why constraints might be good for your team (sorry), and some practical advice for junior staff trying not to doom-spiral. Budget constraint isn’t persecution. It’s elected officials doing what they were elected to do with taxpayer money. Suck it up, and here’s how. Mentioned in this episode: Brené Brown and Adam Grant on the Stockdale Paradox — The Curiosity Shop David Epstein, Inside the Box: How constraints make us better Alfred Lansing, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Grumpy, elusive creatures defending well-defined territory: evaluation in public policy 🦡
In 1997, Tony Blair’s government inherited a problem: tuberculosis in cattle was rising, farmers were furious, and nobody agreed on whether badgers were responsible. The solution was to commission a gold-standard randomised control trial — 30 sites across the southwest of England, three conditions, run by an independent scientific group. Proper science. No cutting corners. Eleven years and £49 million later, the trial produced findings that made things more complicated, not less. Reactive culling of badgers made TB rates worse. Proactive culling helped inside cull zones but increased rates in surrounding areas. Two expert panels reviewed the same data and reached opposite conclusions. And by the time the final report landed, the minister who commissioned the review had left office, the department had been restructured, and the politics had moved somewhere else entirely. This episode is the first in our three-part series on evaluation in government. It’s not an argument against evidence — it’s an argument for being honest about what evidence can and can’t deliver, and what happens when government treats a long-run trial as a substitute for judgment rather than an input into it. Also: there are quite a lot of badgers. Referenced in the show Angela Cassidy’s book — Vermin, Victims and Disease The New Yorker article on placebos in RCTs, The Power of Nothing by Michael Specter Australian Centre for Evaluation’s paper on RCTs This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Fight club: things we never agree on
Inspired by the new podcast The Curiosity Shop , Alison, Danielle and Caroline take on the things they might never agree on — welcome to TWT Fight Club. In the ring: Do academic and conceptual frameworks actually help public servants do their jobs, or are they a privilege that most people simply don't have time for? Central agencies: great idea, but are they delivering? The trio debates whether they're connectors and coordinators — or arrogant secret-keepers who love a template. Delivery units get their moment in the ring too, with strong views on the difference between a compliance-heavy traffic light report and genuine brokerage between agencies. And the big one: would they go back to the public service? Caroline misses it in her bones, Danielle has a very petty list of reasons why probably not, and Alison is delighted to never write another bona fide. Referenced in this episode: James Plunkett, The Centre is from Mars, the Edges are from Venus : https://medium.com/@jamestplunkett/the-centre-is-from-mars-the-edges-are-from-venus-abca86f66bb8 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Smart dissent: middle management
A new hypothetical scenario, this time from the big smoosh of middle management. Imagine if... your Minister has announced a 15-day processing target, your team is already drowning, there's no cutting corners, and there's no extra resourcing. In this episode, Alison, Danielle and Caroline unpack the impossible balancing act of middle management in high-pressure public sector environments: communicating risk upward without sounding obstructive, keeping teams together during the crunch, and swallowing 'I told you so'. The conversation explores: How to communicate nuance and operational complexity to time-poor senior executives The difference between raising risks and sounding like “Henny Penny” Why storytelling is often more effective than spreadsheets when escalating concerns The practical levers managers can pull during workload surges, from triage to temporary staffing The dangers of “go faster mania” and performance targets detached from operational reality The swallowed “I told you so” — and how after-action reviews can turn frustration into learning Why being right is not enough, and why building a clear record matters How to be transparent with teams during periods of sustained pressure and uncertainty This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Seen and not heard
How public can public servants be in the social media age? Is having a LinkedIn account a professional necessity, or a professional risk? In this episode, Danielle, Alison and Caroline unpack the history, rules and realities of what public servants can say, post, share and support publicly. From LinkedIn humblebrags and anonymous Twitter accounts, to global political conflicts, the conversation explores how Westminster principles of neutrality collide with modern digital life. Mentioned in this episode: APSC ' Social media: Guidance for Australian Public Service Employees and Agencies' : https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-values/social-media-guidance-australian-public-service-employees-and-agencies Black swans – “The city that ten beers built” If You’re Listening . ABC Listen. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/the-city-that-ten-beers-built/106245972 John Menadue — Are Australian public servants condemned to be silent members of society?: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2024/11/are-australian-public-servants-condemned-to-be-silent-members-of-society-ready/ Comcare v Banerji [2019] HCA 23: https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/cases/decided/case-c122018 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Kylie Kilgour, Deputy Commissioner at the NACC: On Robodebt
In her first interview since the release of the NACC’s report into Robodebt, Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour joins us to unpack her findings and what it all means for the public service. This is a rare chance to go beyond the written report with candid reflections on the conditions that led to one of most significant failures of public administration in Australia, and the complexities of the accountability process. In this episode, we cover: the four key contributing factors to serious corrupt conduct: ignorance of the law, failure to work with lawyers, rushed timelines and senior pressure why being “polite and collegiate” can fail - and the risks of not making concerns unmistakably clear how austerity, budget cycles and unrealistic deadlines distort judgement and behaviour the role of toxic culture, including bullying, fear of speaking up, and the myth of untouchable senior leaders the difference between serious maladministration and corrupt conduct - and why some high-profile referrals did not meet the legal threshold for corrupt conduct what Robodebt reveals about missed opportunities to intervene - and the consequences of not listening The NACC's Guide to Ethical Decision-Making : https://www.nacc.gov.au/research-and-guides#ethical-decision-making-a-guide Operation Myrtleford Report: https://www.nacc.gov.au/investigation-reports-and-case-studies#operation-myrtleford Get in touch with the NACC: https://www.nacc.gov.au/about-nacc/contact-us Further NACC resources: What is corrupt conduct? What is serious or systemic corrupt conduct? Voluntary referrals: a guide This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Robodebt: Reflections on the NACC's Findings
On 11 March, the National Anti-Corruption Commission released its findings on Robodebt. It found that two of the six referred public servants engaged in serious corrupt conduct, and four did not. Caroline, Alison and Danielle discuss three things: the "low level" code of conduct failures that created the toxic soil in which corrupt conduct could grow; the detail of the NACC's findings on the Robodebt Six; and the harder, unresolved question of whether individual accountability processes can ever be adequate for system failure with Robodebt's scale of human harm. Referenced in this episode: Jenny Miller, The Saturday Paper https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2026/03/21/robodebt-six-they-continue-i-am-left-with-urn-containing-the-ashes-my Rick Morton, Cut Through podcast (Crikey) https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/cut-through/id1616953809?i=1000756172293 NACC, findings on Robodebt referrals , 11 March 2025 https://www.nacc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2026-03/Operation%20Myrtleford%20Investigation%20Report.pdf Commissioner Holmes, Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme — sealed section https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Tabled_Documents/15488 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Mad Cow Disease part 4 - unblocking the beef chain
In our last episode on Mad Cow Disease, we take our final lessons from the public servicing of this massive health, agricultural and economic crisis. With the benefit of hindsight, we weigh the significant market interventions and public perception against actual transmission data. In this episode: What decision making looks like under radical uncertainty, where its government's job to keep things running. The massive supply chain repercussions of the beef ban, and how much expertise policymakers actually need when making interventions. Whether the public has a realistic understanding of what governments can achieve in a crisis and whether governments can still have an honest conversation about trade offs for the public good. Why sensing the public mood is not “political”, but a critical source of information about whether policy is working or failing. Whether more information and transparency actually build confidence in a democratised media environment, including social media and large language models. Where actual transmission ended up, and how it compares with other risk calculations and personal mitigations. What all of this means for modern public servants operating in systems where uncertainty is the norm, not the exception. Insiders, Chris Bowen - Energy Minister (22/3/2026)https://iview.abc.net.au/show/insiders?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared The Rest Is History podcast - Revolution In Iran | Fall of the Shah (Part 1) https://therestishistory.com/episodes/fall-of-the-shah-part-1 Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Talebhttps://www.penguin.com.au/books/fooled-by-randomness-9780141031484 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Mad Cow Disease part 3 - too much on Monday, too little on Thursday
It’s March 1996 and the UK Government announces that mad cow disease has been linked to human cases. Within days beef consumption falls by half, public confidence is non-existent, and ministers begin meeting in chaotic quasi-cabinet groups sometimes twice a day. In this episode we discuss: How to brief best in the chaos of things changing by the hour Whether policy should change when the risk hasn't changed, but risk perception has. The policy process where decisions are not weighed but whittled down by what’s acceptable to industry and public Why what seemed like an extreme policy response on Monday suddenly felt inadequate by Thursday Whether scenario planning is useful when public sentiment in unpredictable and irrational Why in a crisis it is better to stop complaining about constantly changing decisions and simply focus on being useful How the EU's hardline and indefinite export ban politically wedged the UK The difficulty of restoring public confidence when there is no clear wrongdoing to find and fix, and the crisis is largely the product of uncertainty The realities of how much the contemporary populace can realistically sustain engagement with multiple complex risks at once New Species of Trouble by Kai Erikson https://www.amazon.com.au/New-Species-Trouble-Experience-Disasters/dp/0393313190 Any Ordinary Day - Leigh Sales https://www.penguin.com.au/books/any-ordinary-day-9781760893637 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
What Makes a Bloody Good Policy Officer?
Few people come to policy officer positions with specific policy training. They might be teachers, lawyers, front-line workers or subject-matter experts. Who teaches us how to do policy work, and what policy actually is? Enter Salli Cohen’s brilliant new book, 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer.' In this episode we catch up with Salli about: Her one-word definition of policy. What it takes to be a genuinely good policy officer, beyond technical competence. The difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed. Why curiosity, empathy and humility are not ‘soft’ skills but core capabilities. The importance of an orientation to serving the community. Keeping your antennae up to context, politics and implementation realities. The importance of letting people say their bit. Speaking up when things are going pear-shaped. Salli’s hopes for the next generation of policy professionals. Purchase Salli's book 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer' officer here: https://www.thepolicyroom.com/product/Rollercoaster Next week we return with Part 3 of our Mad Cow Disease series. This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
'Mad Cow Disease' part 2 - a bogus professor and a dead cat
Part 2 of 4 on Mad Cow Disease: In this episode, the cracks in enforcement are showing, panic is slowly boiling, and the science is catching up. What we cover: The panic spike when BSE appears in domestic cats The danger of stopping at the legislation, without interrogating whether industry is complying and how you would know. The reassurance cycle – shock, anxiety, reassurance, repeat, and whether the Government could or should have said more. The political landscape of EU export pressure, an era of deregulation, and expensive subsidies From variable, localised enforcement to a centralised Meat Hygiene Service. Where we end up by late 1995 – no human cases yet, but the MHS has a horrifying revelation that undermines trust in the controls. This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
'Mad Cow Disease' part 1 - a crisis without a crime
We kick off a new series on 'Mad Cow Disease', or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), and what it teaches us about governing when the science is uncertain, the consequences are enormous, but the risks are very remote. Why BSE became a lasting symbol of government failure and secrecy, even though major inquiries later found decisions were largely science led. Where to draw the line for regulatory settings with big market consequences. Who really decides when portfolios collide, and who pays. Why Pedigree pet food had a surprising influence on the risk ‘appetite’ Whether there is the authorising environment to act beyond the scientific advice. Spoiler alert: “over reacting” and “under reacting” are not opposites, they overlap. The brilliant podcast, ‘The Cows are Mad’ by BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rrhy/episodes/player The West Wing: Season 3, episode 9 (featuring Mad Cow disease). https://youtu.be/ouBr3F2qWMI?si=uecMkFaQFnMGVvyL&t=220 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
How to do Big Reform
We want to make lasting and meaningful change, but how do we get there? In this special episode Caroline interviews Frances Foster-Thorpe and Jason Tabarias about their insights into the skills and frameworks needed to tackle large, complex and ambitious reform. We cover: Biting off what you can chew by picking two of three factors: volume, cost, quality Examples of big Australian reforms that did and didn't hit the mark Lining up stakeholder expectations, the authorising environment, and operational capability Stretching the political window of opportunity by looking up and out Why sequencing can be a more productive conversation than prioritisation Proposals that are needs or community-led, evidence based and implementation-ready Making cross-system collaboration work: everyone is a colleague, everyone has valuable knowledge, and everyone is responsible for doing as much as we can Tips for system diplomats and working with system diplomats Mark Moore's strategic triangle The Three Horizons Framework Geoff Mulgan 'The Art of Public Strategy' This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
How It Started v How It’s Going: 3 years of TWT
Buy a sports car or start a podcast. It all could have gone the way of a new hobby, with audio kit languishing in a drawer. Instead, this podcast has become a study and celebration of the tricky craft of public service, and it's a source of pure joy for us. Reflecting on three years of TWT: Humble and haphazard beginnings What’s changed since the Robodebt Royal Commission Our favourite interviews, scandals, episodes Lifting the veil on moments of chaos Our favourite moments with listeners (and do we need an identifier for the TWT listener cohort?) Learnings on the journey and things we’ve changed our minds on And that’s a wrap for 2025. Till next year! Alison listing all the places we’ve “recorded” sounds remarkably like Shaggy… https://youtu.be/p4qqOHllgps?si=uEHlcD6JMW9Jabng ‘Abundance: How We Build a Better Future’ by Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Ezra-Klein,-Derek-Thompson-Abundance-9781805226055 Nigella Lawson reading ‘How to eat’ https://www.audible.com.au/pd/How-to-Eat-The-Pleasures-and-Principles-of-Good-Food-Audiobook/1473567351 Colin Firth’s indecent gravel: https://www.amazon.com/The-End-of-Affair-Graham-Greene-audiobook/dp/B0081293SO Anything narrated by Richard Roxburgh https://www.audible.com.au/search?searchNarrator=Richard+Roxburgh&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=771c6463-05d7-4981-9b47-920dc34a70f1&pf_rd_r=C0M8084B840VVEERZRJ5&plink=IArL51tFosgDIpzy&pageLoadId=FlLq75E1cuzEn4oS&creativeId=adcc4fec-4d90-49d1-997e-8be21d68ce7f&ref=a_search_c3_lNarrator_1_2_1 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Buzzword Bingo
In this Christmas special, Caroline, Alison and Danielle unwrap the public service’s most gear-grinding buzzwords, what they’re supposed to mean and what they have now quietly become. With words crowdsourced from the fine listeners of TWT, we talk: Big serious words and how their technical meanings have drifted The corporate visitors who arrived and never left Words that hide fear or indecision How co-design can be a handbrake, and why government struggles to set boundaries on what is genuinely up for shaping. Word of the year: nature-positive The brilliant book that Alison refers to is ‘The Right Kind of Wrong’ by Amy Edmondson: https://www.dymocks.com.au/right-kind-of-wrong-by-amy-edmondson-9781847943781 This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Imagine if... you were leading an orchard of bad apples
Your shiny new promotion turns out to be more than you bargained for. In this scenario-based "Imagine if..." episode, Caroline and Danielle assume the role of a newly promoted manager who steps into a team they didn’t choose and some character-building challenges. ⚠️ Mild trigger warning for the depiction of toxic colleagues - we've all had one! We cover: Walking the floor and gathering intel How to give the boss response to a credibility challenge Clarifying the authorising environment Lifting work quality When to whip out the whiteboard to create a two-way learning exercise Setting a vision and direction for the team that’s sensitive to the past Responding to bad behaviour that’s not quite misconduct To report or not to report; the risks of weighing in Good egg managers in the Re Meagher case https://hearsay.org.au/graduate-lawyer-fails-in-fair-work-act-bullying-claim/ This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Imagine if … your sleepy grants program woke up
When politics meets process, what’s a conscientious public servant to do? This “Imagine if…” episode puts Alison and Danielle in the shoes of a project manager caught between legality, leadership and media heat — and explores what good judgment looks like when everyone’s waiting to be told what’s important. The first in an “Imagine if…” series as requested by listeners — exploring the messy, real-world dilemmas of public administration. We cover: · Managing up and whether to buy into your boss’ crazy · The hurry up and wait of briefing on options · Verbal directions and when to turn them into written confirmation · When to seek advice on legality · Documentation! And the safeguard of personal file noting · The fallacy of ‘not my job’ when every problem for government is a problem for everyone in government · Having multiple comms plans and when not to pick up the phone · The impacts of external pressure on internal process. · Trap for the young players: informal intel travels very quickly · Who gets to make the decision? · Building in agility to allow for changing priorities Shout out to the Normal Gossip podcast for inspiring this episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/0KVZ16mLZ1bbNlnKemYTzm This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Inside the public service's ‘Human Handbrake’: why reform stalls and how to fix it
Demos has released a fascinating paper, The Human Handbrake , on the five human habits that stall public sector reform. In this episode we pick through each of them - fear, heroics, tribes, tidiness, and tempo - and test practical fixes from risk stratification to outcome-focused equity. Topics covered include: fear-driven risk culture and how to stratify risk safe-to-fail spaces vs non-negotiable protections policy hero incentives vs long-term stewardship recruitment, merit, and better references tribes and bridges between centre and frontline proximity, exchanges, and communities of practice simplicity bias vs equity and local texture outcome measurement, real-time data, and storytelling political tempo, accountability, and transparent milestones culture as accelerator, not brake. We covered a wild variety of content in this episode. Here's a smattering: Demos The Human Handbrake What do blueberries have to do with my job? The Trust Equation CONTAINED 30 minutes. 3 rooms. One truth about youth justice. e61 research on the shift in social spend “Dependency should be debated” The newspaper wall in the Kingsman movies This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
“It’s just a minor restructure” said no calendar ever
In our second change management episode, Danielle pulls apart the myth of the “minor” restructure and lay out a practical way to change without breaking the work. From function mapping and ministerial comms to union engagement and the “fourth trimester”, we consider how to make change stick with clarity and care. why six to nine months is realistic for restructures function before form and mapping real work aligning vision to delivery using bottom‑up design ministers and boards as informed stakeholders, not deciders the centralise versus localise accordion and trade‑offs middle managers as the glue of change naming unknowns, iteration, and review cycles working with unions plumbing and HR sequencing that stalls programs after ‘go‑live’ habits, SOPs, and consistent standards what’s up for grabs versus non‑negotiable boundaries logistics people actually care about: seats, commutes, WFH. This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be. Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers.... While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right. Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com. Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
