Podcast
The Westminster Tradition
Hosted by The Westminster Tradition · EN
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.
16episodes
Episodes
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3w ago00:55:55Tap to summarizeHow public can public servants be in the social media age? Is having a LinkedIn account a professional necessity, or a professional risk?In this episode, Danielle, Alison and Caroline unpack the history, rules and realities of what public servants can say, post, share and support publicly. From LinkedIn humblebrags and anonymous Twitter accounts, to global political conflicts, the conversation explores how Westminster principles of neutrality collide with modern digital life.Mentioned in this episode: APSC 'Social media: Guidance for Australian Public Service Employees and Agencies': https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-values/social-media-guidance-australian-public-service-employees-and-agenciesBlack swans – “The city that ten beers built” If You’re Listening. ABC Listen. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/the-city-that-ten-beers-built/106245972John Menadue — Are Australian public servants condemned to be silent members of society?: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2024/11/are-australian-public-servants-condemned-to-be-silent-members-of-society-ready/Comcare v Banerji [2019] HCA 23: https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/cases/decided/case-c122018This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →Kylie Kilgour, Deputy Commissioner at the NACC: On Robodebt
Apr 2701:10:33Tap to summarizeIn her first interview since the release of the NACC’s report into Robodebt, Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour joins us to unpack her findings and what it all means for the public service. This is a rare chance to go beyond the written report with candid reflections on the conditions that led to one of most significant failures of public administration in Australia, and the complexities of the accountability process. In this episode, we cover:the four key contributing factors to serious corrupt conduct: ignorance of the law, failure to work with lawyers, rushed timelines and senior pressure why being “polite and collegiate” can fail - and the risks of not making concerns unmistakably clearhow austerity, budget cycles and unrealistic deadlines distort judgement and behaviourthe role of toxic culture, including bullying, fear of speaking up, and the myth of untouchable senior leadersthe difference between serious maladministration and corrupt conduct - and why some high-profile referrals did not meet the legal threshold for corrupt conductwhat Robodebt reveals about missed opportunities to intervene - and the consequences of not listeningThe NACC's Guide to Ethical Decision-Making: https://www.nacc.gov.au/research-and-guides#ethical-decision-making-a-guideOperation Myrtleford Report: https://www.nacc.gov.au/investigation-reports-and-case-studies#operation-myrtlefordGet in touch with the NACC: https://www.nacc.gov.au/about-nacc/contact-usFurther NACC resources: What is corrupt conduct?What is serious or systemic corrupt conduct?Voluntary referrals: a guideThis podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →Robodebt: Reflections on the NACC's Findings
Apr 1301:00:11Tap to summarizeOn 11 March, the National Anti-Corruption Commission released its findings on Robodebt. It found that two of the six referred public servants engaged in serious corrupt conduct, and four did not. Caroline, Alison and Danielle discuss three things: the "low level" code of conduct failures that created the toxic soil in which corrupt conduct could grow; the detail of the NACC's findings on the Robodebt Six; and the harder, unresolved question of whether individual accountability processes can ever be adequate for system failure with Robodebt's scale of human harm.Referenced in this episode:Jenny Miller, The Saturday Paper https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2026/03/21/robodebt-six-they-continue-i-am-left-with-urn-containing-the-ashes-myRick Morton, Cut Through podcast (Crikey) https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/cut-through/id1616953809?i=1000756172293 NACC, findings on Robodebt referrals, 11 March 2025 https://www.nacc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2026-03/Operation%20Myrtleford%20Investigation%20Report.pdf Commissioner Holmes, Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme — sealed section https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Tabled_Documents/15488This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →Mad Cow Disease part 4 - unblocking the beef chain
Mar 3000:42:46Tap to summarizeIn our last episode on Mad Cow Disease, we take our final lessons from the public servicing of this massive health, agricultural and economic crisis. With the benefit of hindsight, we weigh the significant market interventions and public perception against actual transmission data. In this episode:What decision making looks like under radical uncertainty, where its government's job to keep things running.The massive supply chain repercussions of the beef ban, and how much expertise policymakers actually need when making interventions.Whether the public has a realistic understanding of what governments can achieve in a crisis and whether governments can still have an honest conversation about trade offs for the public good.Why sensing the public mood is not “political”, but a critical source of information about whether policy is working or failing.Whether more information and transparency actually build confidence in a democratised media environment, including social media and large language models.Where actual transmission ended up, and how it compares with other risk calculations and personal mitigations. What all of this means for modern public servants operating in systems where uncertainty is the norm, not the exception.Insiders, Chris Bowen - Energy Minister (22/3/2026)https://iview.abc.net.au/show/insiders?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_sharedThe Rest Is History podcast - Revolution In Iran | Fall of the Shah (Part 1) https://therestishistory.com/episodes/fall-of-the-shah-part-1Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Talebhttps://www.penguin.com.au/books/fooled-by-randomness-9780141031484This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →Mad Cow Disease part 3 - too much on Monday, too little on Thursday
Mar 1600:40:00Tap to summarizeIt’s March 1996 and the UK Government announces that mad cow disease has been linked to human cases. Within days beef consumption falls by half, public confidence is non-existent, and ministers begin meeting in chaotic quasi-cabinet groups sometimes twice a day.In this episode we discuss:How to brief best in the chaos of things changing by the hour Whether policy should change when the risk hasn't changed, but risk perception has. The policy process where decisions are not weighed but whittled down by what’s acceptable to industry and public Why what seemed like an extreme policy response on Monday suddenly felt inadequate by ThursdayWhether scenario planning is useful when public sentiment in unpredictable and irrationalWhy in a crisis it is better to stop complaining about constantly changing decisions and simply focus on being usefulHow the EU's hardline and indefinite export ban politically wedged the UKThe difficulty of restoring public confidence when there is no clear wrongdoing to find and fix, and the crisis is largely the product of uncertaintyThe realities of how much the contemporary populace can realistically sustain engagement with multiple complex risks at onceNew Species of Trouble by Kai Eriksonhttps://www.amazon.com.au/New-Species-Trouble-Experience-Disasters/dp/0393313190 Any Ordinary Day - Leigh Sales https://www.penguin.com.au/books/any-ordinary-day-9781760893637This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →What Makes a Bloody Good Policy Officer?
Mar 201:06:44Tap to summarizeFew people come to policy officer positions with specific policy training. They might be teachers, lawyers, front-line workers or subject-matter experts. Who teaches us how to do policy work, and what policy actually is? Enter Salli Cohen’s brilliant new book, 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer.'In this episode we catch up with Salli about:Her one-word definition of policy.What it takes to be a genuinely good policy officer, beyond technical competence.The difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed. Why curiosity, empathy and humility are not ‘soft’ skills but core capabilities.The importance of an orientation to serving the community.Keeping your antennae up to context, politics and implementation realities.The importance of letting people say their bit. Speaking up when things are going pear-shaped.Salli’s hopes for the next generation of policy professionals.Purchase Salli's book 'Rollercoaster: How to be a bloody good policy officer' officer here: https://www.thepolicyroom.com/product/Rollercoaster Next week we return with Part 3 of our Mad Cow Disease series. This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →'Mad Cow Disease' part 2 - a bogus professor and a dead cat
Feb 1600:33:13Tap to summarizePart 2 of 4 on Mad Cow Disease: In this episode, the cracks in enforcement are showing, panic is slowly boiling, and the science is catching up. What we cover: The panic spike when BSE appears in domestic catsThe danger of stopping at the legislation, without interrogating whether industry is complying and how you would know.The reassurance cycle – shock, anxiety, reassurance, repeat, and whether the Government could or should have said more. The political landscape of EU export pressure, an era of deregulation, and expensive subsidiesFrom variable, localised enforcement to a centralised Meat Hygiene Service. Where we end up by late 1995 – no human cases yet, but the MHS has a horrifying revelation that undermines trust in the controls. This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →'Mad Cow Disease' part 1 - a crisis without a crime
Feb 200:32:05Tap to summarizeWe kick off a new series on 'Mad Cow Disease', or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), and what it teaches us about governing when the science is uncertain, the consequences are enormous, but the risks are very remote.Why BSE became a lasting symbol of government failure and secrecy, even though major inquiries later found decisions were largely science led. Where to draw the line for regulatory settings with big market consequences. Who really decides when portfolios collide, and who pays. Why Pedigree pet food had a surprising influence on the risk ‘appetite’Whether there is the authorising environment to act beyond the scientific advice.Spoiler alert: “over reacting” and “under reacting” are not opposites, they overlap. The brilliant podcast, ‘The Cows are Mad’ by BBC.https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rrhy/episodes/playerThe West Wing: Season 3, episode 9 (featuring Mad Cow disease).https://youtu.be/ouBr3F2qWMI?si=uecMkFaQFnMGVvyL&t=220This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →How to do Big Reform
Jan 1201:11:56Tap to summarizeWe want to make lasting and meaningful change, but how do we get there? In this special episode Caroline interviews Frances Foster-Thorpe and Jason Tabarias about their insights into the skills and frameworks needed to tackle large, complex and ambitious reform.We cover: Biting off what you can chew by picking two of three factors: volume, cost, qualityExamples of big Australian reforms that did and didn't hit the markLining up stakeholder expectations, the authorising environment, and operational capabilityStretching the political window of opportunity by looking up and outWhy sequencing can be a more productive conversation than prioritisationProposals that are needs or community-led, evidence based and implementation-ready Making cross-system collaboration work: everyone is a colleague, everyone has valuable knowledge, and everyone is responsible for doing as much as we can Tips for system diplomats and working with system diplomatsMark Moore's strategic triangle The Three Horizons FrameworkGeoff Mulgan 'The Art of Public Strategy'This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →How It Started v How It’s Going: 3 years of TWT
Dec 2200:51:51Tap to summarizeBuy a sports car or start a podcast. It all could have gone the way of a new hobby, with audio kit languishing in a drawer. Instead, this podcast has become a study and celebration of the tricky craft of public service, and it's a source of pure joy for us. Reflecting on three years of TWT: Humble and haphazard beginningsWhat’s changed since the Robodebt Royal Commission Our favourite interviews, scandals, episodesLifting the veil on moments of chaosOur favourite moments with listeners (and do we need an identifier for the TWT listener cohort?)Learnings on the journey and things we’ve changed our minds onAnd that’s a wrap for 2025. Till next year!Alison listing all the places we’ve “recorded” sounds remarkably like Shaggy… https://youtu.be/p4qqOHllgps?si=uEHlcD6JMW9Jabng ‘Abundance: How We Build a Better Future’ by Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Ezra-Klein,-Derek-Thompson-Abundance-9781805226055Nigella Lawson reading ‘How to eat’ https://www.audible.com.au/pd/How-to-Eat-The-Pleasures-and-Principles-of-Good-Food-Audiobook/1473567351Colin Firth’s indecent gravel: https://www.amazon.com/The-End-of-Affair-Graham-Greene-audiobook/dp/B0081293SO Anything narrated by Richard Roxburgh https://www.audible.com.au/search?searchNarrator=Richard+Roxburgh&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=771c6463-05d7-4981-9b47-920dc34a70f1&pf_rd_r=C0M8084B840VVEERZRJ5&plink=IArL51tFosgDIpzy&pageLoadId=FlLq75E1cuzEn4oS&creativeId=adcc4fec-4d90-49d1-997e-8be21d68ce7f&ref=a_search_c3_lNarrator_1_2_1This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
Transcribe →