On Tuesday 15 September 2020, Delivering Great Policy and IPAA ACT hosted an interactive online panel discussion exploring APS policy through COVID-19: from crisis to recovery and beyond.
The event was hosted by Will Story, acting First Assistant Secretary of the APS Reform Office at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and included a panel of senior APS leaders:
• Stephanie Foster PSM, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Elizabeth Kelly PSM, Deputy Secretary, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
• Harinder Sidhu, Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The panel highlighted how the APS response to COVID-19 strongly aligned with the Delivering Great Policy Model. Stephanie Foster explained how being clear on intent and bringing a ‘nothing else matters’ mindset helped to focus the attention of policy makers to deliver within compressed timeframes. Elizabeth Kelly described the power of partnership with industry to increase Australia’s supply of personal protective equipment, and Harinder shared how DFAT scaled up previous crisis management expertise to implement solutions across the globe to bring Australians home.
When the audience was polled, bringing a ‘curious and humble mindset’ to the policy challenge was voted as the most important enabling factor to deliver great policy during the initial COVID-19 response.
A video of the live-streamed event is available to watch on IPAA’s website.