Public Sector, Spring 2026, by Kathy Young In the third of four anniversary articles, supporters of Hāpai Public recalled their favourite memories of the organisation. Mine was partnering with the central agencies, on behalf of Hāpai Public, to run three seminars on the Performance Improvement Framework. I said that these events gave us a rare…

Public Sector, Winter 2026, by Kathy Young In the second of four anniversary articles, leaders of Hāpai Public considered what the organisation should focus on over its next 90 years. I said that building capability includes helping public servants support ministers to govern well under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. That means understanding that kāwanatanga and…

Public Sector, Autumn 2026, by Kathy Young In the first of four articles marking the 90th anniversary of Hāpai Public, formerly the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand, I spoke about the organisation’s change of name in 2025. I explained that the new name, Hāpai Public – the Institute of Public Professionals, draws on the…

Most still have faith in the public service – for nowBusinessDesk, 18 November 2021, by Jem Traylen As an adviser to BusinessDesk’s public sector project, I commented on the Kiwis Count survey of public trust in the public service. Trust rose and converged across ethnicities during the early COVID-19 response, but the gap has since…

Urgent call to improve access to official information: Māori researchersStuff, 19 March 2021, by Nikki Macdonald I commented on research by Paula King, Gabrielle Baker, Bernadette Jones and Tristram Ingham, published in Policy Quarterly, on the Official Information Act and Māori with lived experience of disability. Fewer than a third of the 33 Crown organisations…

One of our greatest assets (2020) In this pre-election opinion piece for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi Public Service Association, I argue that one of the greatest assets of Aotearoa is the trust people have in our public institutions and public servants. An ethical and impartial public service is fundamental to keeping that trust, but…

The Performance Improvement Framework: Getting it rightPublic Sector, December 2012, pp. 14–15, by Shelly Biswell As a Principal Advisor at the State Services Commission and one of the key advisers on the Performance Improvement Framework, I explained that the PIF looks back at an agency’s performance as a way of gauging how well placed it…