Public Services

Brazilian department urges president-elect to curb civil service salaries

Salaries of government workers should be brought into line with those of the private sector, according to an official report handed to the president-elect of Brazil. The right-wing former army […]

Public sector inventiveness on display at US innovation awards

Machine learning for navy maintenance, technology to identify suspicious drone operators, and a system to prevent drivers from driving the wrong way down motorways are among the winners of the […]

APS commissioner outlines vision for more flexible civil service

The new Australian Public Service (APS) commissioner has outlined a vision of a more “permeable” civil service in his first public speech. Peter Woolcott was appointed by former prime minister […]

UK head of the civil service retires due to ill health

Sir Jeremy Heywood has announced that he is standing down as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. Heywood has been cabinet secretary since 2012 and headed up the […]

OECD launches open consultation on public service leadership and capability

The OECD has launched an online consultation on a set of 14 principles designed to help countries create a “fit-for-purpose public service”, with a particular emphasis on recruiting and developing […]

Africa’s first Road Safety Observatory launched

An international drive to cut road deaths in Africa by setting up the continent’s first regional Road Safety Observatory was launched in Leipzig last week. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) […]

UK PM to blame for Windrush scandal, says former deputy PM

British prime minister Theresa May apologised at last week’s Commonwealth summit for the treatment of Caribbean immigrants who arrived in the UK decades ago. But Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister […]

Australia launches national centre to combat child exploitation

The Australian government is launching a new national centre to combat child abuse and exploitation. The federal government will provide AUS$68.6m (US$53m) for the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation […]

Australia’s first employee-led mutual wins AUS$47m contract

Public servants in South Australia are setting up an independent, employee-led mutual organisation to provide government services, in the country’s first such project. The organisation, which is staffed by former […]

India to offer free health services to half a billion people

The Indian government has announced an ambitious healthcare scheme covering as many as 500m beneficiaries, in a programme dubbed ‘Modicare’ – a play on prime minister Narendra Modi’s name, the […]