A United States lapdog - or a lone wolf?
The foreign policy train rolls on, and Australia has finally gained a seat on the United Nations Security Council. According to the combined authority of the Prime Minister and the Foreign...
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Celebrating the Contribution of Women to Public Sector Excellence
The ANZSOG Institute for Governance set up a reference group to develop a series of activities which highlight the contribution of women to public sector excellence and give voice to their achievements. The Group was Chaired by Professor Meredith Edwards and included: Glenys Beauchamp (Acting Secretary of the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government); Catherine Fox (Deputy Editor, AFR BOSS); Virginia Haussegger (Journalist, Author, Media Commentator and TV News Presenter); Sally Moyle (Branch Manager, Office for Women, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs); Monica Pfeffer (Director Strategic Projects, ANZSOG); Judy Tyers (Director of Applied Learning, ANZSOG); and, Elizabeth Whitelaw (Canberra Chair of Partners, Minter Ellison).
The Group decided that developing a series of activities which highlighted the contribution of women to public sector excellence and gave voice to their achievements was an important project for sustaining commitment to workplace equality. It was argued that the project should emphasize celebration of achievement rather than bemoaning structural obstacles to gender equality. It was also noted, however, that it was important to develop a methodology of engagement which allowed for identification of such obstacles and the development of a set of policy prescriptions.
On 16 November 2010 the Institute held an event which launched the series with Virginia Haussegger interviewing three spectacular public servants – Lisa Paul, Tu Pham and Roxanne Missingham – on a pre-determined set of topics such as where women are at in the public service, how they understand their history, what they aspire to be, what they see equality as, what this means for job design and work-life balance and how they have been able to negotiate institutional obstacles and rise to the top.
Women and the public service: too few at the top