Subscriber • Analysis

Public Sector Informant: Overlapping roles in federation bring on the blame shifting

By Richard Mulgan
Updated September 2 2020 - 12:06am, first published September 1 2020 - 12:00am
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was forced to call an independent inquiry into the disembarkation from the Ruby Princess cruise ship. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was forced to call an independent inquiry into the disembarkation from the Ruby Princess cruise ship. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

As mistakes and failures in governments' handling of the pandemic come to light and recriminations follow, an underlying question emerges: do we have the right structures of collective responsibility to deal with ongoing public demands for government accountability? In particular, does the sharing of responsibility between different organisations prevent any leader or official from taking effective ownership of a complex policy problem? Should we, instead, be looking to clearly locate responsibility for each government task with one authority, either a single official or a single body?

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