The newest public service secretary and his lively LinkedIn presence
Finance released its own AI tool last week - a secure "sandbox" for agencies to play around in.
The tool, known as GovAI, could soon be used to deal with the pesky problem of freedom-of-information requests.
Marcel Gabriel, an assistant secretary at Finance, told Public Eyethe department is internally testing this out.
"GovAI is conducting internal testing of a potential Freedom of Information (FOI) Redaction Tool that leverages generative AI to help redact common types of sensitive information, such as personal details, from documents," Mr Gabriel said in a statement.
"From there, a beta pilot of the tool may be tested with select agencies using only public and synthetic data.
"Human oversight is maintained throughout the process."
FOI resources are often stretched thin across the public service, causing delays to information that members of the public and journalists have a legal right to.
While it seems the technology is mostly being applied to straightforward redactions - like names and personal details - it would be interesting to see what AI thinks about the public interest factors favouring disclosure of information.
Budget paper four has never been so popular
If the federal election campaign revealed anything, it's that no one really reads budget paper four. (Sorry, Finance.)
Sure, agency resourcing has never before received so much attention, but the election saw both sides of politics throwing around a jumble of different figures and interpretations about the size of the public service.
While the Coalition has been very careful about the public service since its campaign for cuts flopped abysmally, it seems there's still a dispute about the numbers.
Liberal senator James Paterson wrote to Parliamentary Budget Officer Sam Reinhardt in June to dispute its costings of the Coalition's public service policy.
The office forecast the Coalition policy would have saved $12.2 billion over the four years from 2025-26, with annual savings to hit $7.3 billion by 2031-32.
Senator Paterson argued that the Parliamentary Budget Office(PBO) "books a reduced saving from the Coalition's public service policy primarily because it assumes the Albanese government plans to cut the public service by 22,500, including 16,000 in 2026-27".
"The savings from the Coalition's public service policy are effectively being discounted by being compared to a fictitious budget baseline which the government has no intention of implementing," the letter reads.
PBO did assume a drop in public service numbers of about 22,500, but not because it knows something we don't.
As its election report explains, it's just the way the government has always crunched the numbers.
"Budgets incorporate only the impact of government decisions already taken," the report reads.
"This means that programs which have been announced to receive funding for a limited time are assumed to end on schedule, which includes staffing costs."
While the PBO has to assume those people disappear, governments tend to just announce new programs for them to go and work on, and with it, new funding.
Greens help block the release of the Stefanic report
A bid to unearth a report into the employment of former Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Rob Stefanic flopped in the Senate last week, after the Greens helped to block it.
President of the Senate Sue Lines and Speaker of the House Milton Dick terminated Mr Stefanic's employment in December 2024, citing a loss of trust and confidence.
The reasons for the decision have been kept secret, but in order to terminate a secretary, the presiding officers are required to first consider a report from the Parliamentary Services Commissioner.
It's that report, written by Gordon de Brouwer, that Senator Roberts wants to see.
But he'll have to ask another day, because while Coalition senators and some of the crossbench voted in favour of the motion, the Greens and Labor teamed up to block it.
A spokesperson for the Greens did not respond to a request for comment.
Not the recruiters you were hoping for
Years on, and the country's top spy is still issuing warnings to public servants who can't resist a spot of online networking.
Four years ago, Australian Security Intelligence OrganisationDirector-General Mike Burgess began urging public servants to be "mindful" of what personal and professional information they put online.
But it seems the message hasn't quite sunk in, with the spy boss revealing security breaches online still make his "head spin".
"Nearly two-and-a-half thousand publicly boast about having a security clearance and thirteen hundred claim to work in the national security community," Mr Burgess said this week of "just one professional networking site".
He said the numbers have fallen since he first raised the alarm, but it's still a dizzying reality for him.
"I get that people need to market themselves, but telling social media you hold a security clearance or work on a highly classified project is more than naive; it's recklessly inviting the attention of a foreign intelligence service.
"Employers are not the only ones recruiting online. Spies from multiple countries routinely and relentlessly trawl professional networking sites, seeking to identify, target and cultivate Australians with access to privileged information."
The Director-General has revealed he's written to secretaries to sort out the issue, so maybe rethink that humble brag online.
Speaking of professional networking sites ...
New Climate Change secretary Mike Kaiser has a strong presence on one such site, and his frequent LinkedIn posts offer a glimpse into the persona of the public sector's newest arrival.
Public Eye is not suggesting there are any security issues with Mr Kaiser's profile, just having a sticky-beak.
And it seems quite a few others are too, with the Climate Change boss amassing more than 17,000 followers on the site.
If Mr Kaiser's posts are anything to go off, he could be the public sector's next quirky persona. Move over, Jim Betts.
"Consensus might work if you're running a hippy commune," a post from June (before he was appointed) begins.
"For anyone interested in getting to effective outcomes in a faster timeframe, this principle works better: 'Everyone gets a say, not everyone gets their way,'" the text reads, attached to a photo of Mr Kaiser blowing bubbles in an office.
In a more recent selfie outside his new department office, Mr Kaiser gave some more context for the tone of his posts.
"I love this definition of psychological safety: 'a shared sense of permission for candour,'" the post reads.
"It's nothing to do with being nice, or getting your way, or even job security.
"It's the belief it's OK to risk asking questions and admitting mistakes; the ability to be respectfully candid with one another in order to be effective."
This masthead did recently request an interview with Mr Kaiser, but he "politely declined".
