This whole section really.

No Yanks on the t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ABC News front page

Hasan Piker was on 730 report the other night. Only the most brain poisoned Australians should know who that is.

Hypocrisy perhaps, given I used to teach US politics for a living but: you do not have to pay attention to this stuff and most people would better off ignoring 99% of what goes on there. Australian media‘s obsessive coverage, especially the ABC, does everyone a disservice.

Legal advice certainly not the only or even the most important issue re Robodebt (see AJPS special issue: doi.org/10.1080/1036...). But we think its role is generally overlooked in public policy/administration and, for the Robodebt case, could have mitigated some of the worst harms.

4. The role of very senior lawyers (e.g. Chief Legal Counsel). Expected to be able give clear legal advice agency leadership, but in this case demonstrated little to no engagement with the actual legal questions. Seniority may lead to prioritising politics?

3. This was not a matter of 'capacity'. There were more than enough lawyers in the two relevant agencies, most of whom did identify the key issues if given the chance to.

2. The perception of lawyer-client relationship can cause challenges for internal public service lawyers. If the 'client' disregards the advice, what obligations do government lawyers have to push back? Often, the answer seems to be 'none', which is clearly a problem.

A few other points we found notable in the analysis:
1. In policy literature there is an often an assumption that legal advice will be taken seriously. In this case, it was seen as an inconvenience, largely siloed away from the rest of the policy process.

Our paper is part of a fantastic special issue edited by @timlegrand.bsky.social and M. Jae Moon on 'malign policymaking'. Check out their introduction here: doi.org/10.1093/pols...

📘New article on the Robodebt case focusing on legal advice. The short version: with pressure to automate and AI-ify everything, legal protections are critical. We cannot assume policymakers and administrators will act in good faith and legal advice should be a "brake" with real force.

call for no more papers

Replace the Productivity Commission with a Chilling Out Commission, problem solved folks.

We need to address the real drag on Australia’s productivity: too many people wasting time talking about productivity.

I just like to post these data from time to time to puncture the mythological aura of mid 20th c protests. They were less popular than pretty much any 21st c mass action & people criticizing them used the same lines. Protest is about people coming together, shaping narratives, & building power.

Spoiler alert: unsurprisingly, most have avoided engaging with key issues like over-responsiveness to ministers.

Highly recommend this new article from Daniel and Maria Maley – fascinating use of FOI requests to see if agencies have learned anything from Robodebt.

And here is the third article in our upcoming Robodebt SI, by my wonderful new colleague Sarah Ball. Sarah highlights a "culture of technical rationality" that has hollowed out expertise and ethical capacity in the APS and contributed to the "administrative evil" of Robodebt

doi.org/10.1080/1036...

Just out from me and @annekavanagh.bsky.social - The government wants to contain NDIS growth. But ineligible people with disability also need support theconversation.com/the-governme...

I bloğued: Accomplishments

orangejuiceandryvita.com/234/accompli... #blog

It would absolutely be Australian media all over if the first we heard of a major regional war between nuclear powers in the subcontinent was a bunch of Australian cricketers getting killed in it

🚨 What can be learned at the intersection of crisis management & administrative burdens? is out now and open access! 🚨

Written with the v much missed @gemcarey.bsky.social.

For folks researching crisis management, admin burden, disability & the NDIS.

Short 🧵 with link 👇

Oh god if I have to write about more Morrison screw ups I'll go nuts

I can't say trawling the through the Royal Commission evidence has been fun – the writing has mostly been powered by fury at the betrayal of vulnerable people by public servants. But am glad to see these out in the world, our little contribution to try and make this isn't conveniently memory-holed.