The Westminster Tradition
By The Westminster Tradition
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Subscribers: 39
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Episodes: 78
Description
Unpacking lessons for the public service, starting with the Robodebt Royal Commission.
In 2019, after three years, Robodebt was found to be unlawful. The Royal Commission process found it was also immoral and wildly inaccurate.
In 2019, after three years, Robodebt was found to be unlawful. The Royal Commission process found it was also immoral and wildly inaccurate.
Ultimately the Australian Government was forced to pay $1.8bn back to more than 470,000 Australians.
In this podcast we dive deep into public policy failures like Robodebt and the British Post Office scandal - how they start, why they're hard to stop, and the public service lessons we shouldn't forget.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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Smart dissent: middle management
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May 25, 2026 |
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Seen and not heard
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May 11, 2026 |
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Kylie Kilgour, Deputy Commissioner at the NACC: On Robodebt
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Apr 27, 2026 |
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Robodebt: Reflections on the NACC's Findings
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Apr 13, 2026 |
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Mad Cow Disease part 4 - unblocking the beef chain
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Mar 30, 2026 |
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Mad Cow Disease part 3 - too much on Monday, too little on Thursday
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Mar 16, 2026 |
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What Makes a Bloody Good Policy Officer?
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Mar 02, 2026 |
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'Mad Cow Disease' part 2 - a bogus professor and a dead cat
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Feb 16, 2026 |
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'Mad Cow Disease' part 1 - a crisis without a crime
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Feb 02, 2026 |
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How to do Big Reform
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Jan 12, 2026 |
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How It Started v How It’s Going: 3 years of TWT
|
Dec 22, 2025 |
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Buzzword Bingo
|
Dec 08, 2025 |
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Imagine if... you were leading an orchard of bad apples
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Nov 24, 2025 |
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Imagine if … your sleepy grants program woke up
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Nov 10, 2025 |
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Inside the public service's ‘Human Handbrake’: why reform stalls and how to fix it
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Oct 27, 2025 |
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“It’s just a minor restructure” said no calendar ever
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Oct 13, 2025 |
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Who Really Moved My Cheese? Tales from the change management trenches
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Sep 29, 2025 |
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Regulator/policy cage fight: ANZSOG National Regulators Community of Practice Conference 2025
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Sep 15, 2025 |
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The Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP: Lessons from a Veteran Minister
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Sep 01, 2025 |
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The Billion-Dollar Payroll Disaster: lessons from Queensland Health’s Payroll System
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Aug 18, 2025 |
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Working from home: when flexibility becomes political
|
Aug 04, 2025 |
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The Radical How: Why one big bet is government’s riskiest move
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Jul 21, 2025 |
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Tom Loosemore: behind the scenes of the Universal Credit Reset
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Jul 07, 2025 |
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Rescuing a bin fire: Test and Learn and Universal Credit (Part 2)
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Jun 23, 2025 |
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From hot mess to delivered: Universal Credit and delivering system wide reform (Part 1)
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Jun 09, 2025 |
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The Vanstone Files: Unpacking Ministerial Power
|
May 26, 2025 |
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The Hon Amanda Vanstone AO - Inside the Westminster Machine
|
May 12, 2025 |
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DOGE or GROSS (Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff) 😩: the touchy subject of efficiency in the public service
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Apr 28, 2025 |
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Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 2 'The Employer'
|
Apr 14, 2025 |
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🗳️ Election special 🗳️ Caretaker conventions, IGBs and some 🥳 vox pops 🥳
|
Mar 31, 2025 |
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Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 1 'The Applicant'
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Mar 17, 2025 |
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Oakden aged care scandal part 3 - “Boss on the floor” … or, how bad things stayed secret
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Mar 03, 2025 |
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REDUX - What the NACC is going on? Updates on Robodebt and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)
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Feb 21, 2025 |
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Oakden aged care scandal part 2 - there’s no $$$ in limbo
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Feb 17, 2025 |
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Oakden aged care scandal part 1 - good in a crisis (...bad on the follow through)
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Feb 03, 2025 |
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Ask a Secretary! Mike Kaiser (former) head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Qld)
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Jan 13, 2025 |
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Mike Kaiser, former DG of Department of Premier and Cabinet (Qld)
|
Dec 30, 2024 |
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The State of the Service - drawing the threads from Coombs to Thodey to where we are now
|
Dec 16, 2024 |
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What the NACC is going on? Updates on Robodebt and the National Anti-Corruption Commission
|
Dec 02, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 8 - ‘The One Where The Report is a Slide Deck’
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Nov 18, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 7 - ‘The One Where The Inquiries Go Nowhere’
|
Nov 04, 2024 |
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TWT Ask Us Anything! Part 2 - culture and integrity agencies
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Oct 14, 2024 |
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TWT Ask Us Anything! Part 1 - trust in government, and how we organise ourselves
|
Sep 30, 2024 |
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Finally, the APSC has published its findings about Robodebt: what did they find, and where to from here?
|
Sep 15, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 6 - information dead ends and accountability sinks
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Aug 12, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 5 - prosecuting the innocent
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Jul 29, 2024 |
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The Hon John Hill, on being a Minister
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Jul 08, 2024 |
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Andrew Podger AO: Is Thodey public sector reform on Steroids or Valium?
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Jun 24, 2024 |
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Andrew Podger AO: the induction, tenure and bravery of Secretaries
|
Jun 10, 2024 |
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The Essendon Footy Club supplements scandal (part 3): regulation in a changing world
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May 27, 2024 |
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The Essendon Footy Club supplements scandal (part 2): what’s it like to investigate Australia’s biggest sports codes?
|
May 13, 2024 |
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The Royal Commission we should have? The 2013 Essendon Football Club supplements scandal
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Apr 28, 2024 |
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Sue Vardon AO, inaugural CE of Centrelink: On learning while in the job
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Apr 15, 2024 |
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Sue Vardon AO, inaugural CE of Centrelink: On lawyers
|
Mar 29, 2024 |
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'Do it now, get it right later': payment (in)accuracy in Centrelink - setting the stage for Robodebt
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Mar 19, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 4 - the roll out of Horizon
|
Mar 04, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 3 - accepting a lemon
|
Feb 19, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office part 2 - what happens when a PM is faced with no good choices
|
Feb 06, 2024 |
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Mr Bates v Post Office - shades of Robodebt?
|
Jan 24, 2024 |
|
Bonus episode: Sue Vardon AO - inaugural CE of Centrelink (1997-2004)
|
Dec 26, 2023 |
|
16. Taking responsibility - lessons from Robodebt
|
Nov 30, 2023 |
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Bonus Episode: Dr Darren O'Donovon on centering the victims of Robodebt, the fragmentation of knowledge and accountability, and the creation of moral discomfort
|
Nov 15, 2023 |
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15. Behavioural insights in Robodebt: at last, an argument!
|
Nov 08, 2023 |
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14. The Grinch that stole Christmas
|
Oct 16, 2023 |
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13. Pink Batts and Robodebt - lessons not learned
|
Oct 09, 2023 |
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12. Robodebt as algorithm (part 3) - Jurassic Park ICT and AI
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Sep 04, 2023 |
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11. Robodebt as algorithm (part 2) - random number generator decision-making
|
Aug 22, 2023 |
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10. Robodebt as algorithm (part 1) - junk data and Swiss cheese
|
Aug 05, 2023 |
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9. Why is it hard to hear whistleblowers? The lessons from Robodebt
|
Aug 04, 2023 |
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Bonus Episode: The Robodebt Report is out - early thoughts and reflections
|
Jul 13, 2023 |
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4. Culture on the frontlines - Centrelink and Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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5. How *not* to stop something - DSS, the Columbia effect, and the first missed opportunity to stop Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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6. When you discover you've been had - DSS, faux collegiality and the second missed opportunity to stop Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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7. 'A bit of a fixer-upper' - DHS and the botched launch of Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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8. Advice is just advice - what the lawyers knew about Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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2. Bright Ideas - the origin of Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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3. Culture from the top - DHS and Robodebt
|
Jul 01, 2023 |
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1. What is Robodebt? An explainer
|
Jul 01, 2023 |