marian.spencer

Articles by marian.spencer:

CPD Needs a Research Assistant

We are looking for a Research Assistant to work on both our Public Service Research and Sustainable Economy research programs.   Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates who want to pursue a career in public policy research and development. The position is part time (4 days a week) Sydney based on a temporary contract of 10 months Roles & responsibilities: … more

Town Hall Meeting Oct 13th. Mandatory Detention: the realistic alternatives

The immigration detention network is at breaking point. Policymakers are so wrapped up in political hubris they have missed the opportunity the High Court decision presented to be a circuit breaker. CPD and ChilOut invite you to join CPD Founder and former Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Head John Menadue, AO in a clear-headed discussion of the recommendations made … more

Community Engagement Conference – 16th-17th Feb 2011, Melbourne

Advocating and developing policy that originates from the groundup is essential for really understanding community needs and expectations. This conference identifies methods to achieve whole-of-government policy buy-in, and explores the importance of placing our communities at the centre of policy development. Thus, empowering and enabling communities to make informed decisions that will shape their future. For more info and to … more

Steven Collins | Upgrading Democracy

Innovation is needed in the public sector. The culture change that has come with the new digital age has not been harnessed as effectively as it might have been. The government 2.0 taskforce which seeks to encourage online engagement between the public sector  and communities has been making some significant progress, but there are areas which need to be addressed, … more

Miriam Lyons & Ben Eltham | Vote 1 for election day long weekend

Sometimes governments make the right decisions for the wrong reasons. Nathan Rees’ decision to create an ”automatic” electoral roll is a perfect example. An automatic roll will capture hundreds of thousands of younger voters who slip through the cracks – voters who are statistically more likely to vote Labor. But for once NSW Labor’s naked self-interest has produced the right … more

Jennifer Doggett | GP Super Clinics

The first of the proposed 36 GP super clinics has opened; its aim is to shift patients away from our overcrowded hospitals. However there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. We still don’t know what the $275 million dollar project will achieve or how it’s meant to improve our healthcare. Jennifer Doggett discusses the issue … more

Ian McAuley & Peter Frank | Medicare Select: Entrenching Inequality in Healthcare

The Australian has examined two separate CPD papers which oppose the government’s ‘Medicare Select’ program. Medicare Select which champions the idea of competing insurance plans has the risk of allowing governments to cut Medicare to a “bare bones program for the poor”. CPD proposes that Medicare Select should be ditched in favour of more effective programs like a network of … more

Ben Spies-Butcher | Super tax skewed too much to the rich

Ben Spies-Butcher, a fellow of CPD, says that the Government’s intentions to reform super taxes so that they no longer skew towards benefiting the rich are a move in the right direction. Ben, who was referenced in an Sydney Morning Herald article, insists that we should rely less on tax breaks to encourage people to save, which benefited the wealthy … more