Christopher Stone

In the 27 years since the Hawke government came up with a public service efficiency dividend, the evidence has mounted against it. National Archives of Australia

Getting more bang for public bucks: is the ‘efficiency dividend’ efficient?

Every now and again in public policy debates a consensus emerges on some particular point among policymakers, stakeholders and commentators. These moments are distressingly rare. It is even more distressing…
Is Australia’s public sector delivering the right levels of ‘bang’ in return for our ‘bucks’? AAP/Tracey Nearmy

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? Short answer: very

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? This question is difficult to answer with precision, but important to all of us. After all, this is our money being spent on us and the things we care about…
The long-held belief that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector is not supported by theory or evidence. www.shutterstock.com

Pursuing ‘efficiency’ in the public sector: why privatisation is not necessarily the answer

“The reality is that government employees around the world are known not to be as efficient as the private sector.” —Paul Fletcher, Liberal Party, Member for Bradfield “The efficiency of the public system…
We won’t realise the impact of state cuts to vocational education for many years. AAP/Joe Castro

The neglected sector: the year that changed TAFE in Australia

This year, the majority of TAFEs across the country have been threatened by state government changes to the sector. In New South Wales and Victoria, vocational education has seen institutional closures…
The TAFE sector has faced cuts, but it may be our best way of addressing the skills shortage. AAP/April Fonti

TAFE helps skills shortage more than private providers

The Vocational Education and Training sector (VET) is doing more to address Australia’s skills shortage than private providers, according to a new paper from the Centre for Policy Development. The paper’s…

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