Ideas to Make Australian Government Work Better

The Energy Data Front-Door Problem: Why Australia Has 100+ Datasets and No Map

Australia publishes roughly 100 public datasets that touch the energy market. Tomago, BlueScope and every council still cannot answer four basic questions from one screen. The bottleneck is not data — it is the front door. Companion to the Place-Data Australia report.

GovAI Is the Biggest Change to the APS Since myGov

GovAI is not another chatbot pilot. It is the shared AI layer the public service has been missing: secure tools, common guardrails, use-case reuse and a new delivery function sitting inside Finance. If it works, the APS starts moving from document-based bureaucracy to AI-assisted service delivery.

Innovation Month Shows the APS Is Changing From the Inside

Innovation Month matters because it makes public-sector change visible. The serious story is not the event calendar; it is the shift from isolated clever teams to repeatable methods, shared toolkits and an APS that is learning how to spread what works.

The Aged Care Funding Gap: Where $4.3B in New Money Is Actually Going

Despite record funding increases following the Royal Commission, workforce shortages mean many aged care facilities still can't meet the mandated care minutes. We tracked where the money flows and where it stalls.

Why 43% of NDIS Plans Are Being Cut at Review — and What Participants Can Do

NDIA data shows plan reductions at review have nearly doubled since 2024. We analysed 800 participant experiences to identify the patterns behind the cuts and the appeals that succeed.

How Victoria's Big Build Is Reshaping Melbourne's West — At What Cost

The Suburban Rail Loop, West Gate Tunnel, and Metro Tunnel are transforming transport infrastructure but the cost blowouts, land acquisitions, and construction disruption tell a more complex story.

Digital Identity in Australia: myGovID Adoption Hits 19M but Trust Lags Behind

Nearly 19 million Australians now have a myGovID but our survey of 2,100 users reveals persistent confusion about what it does, privacy concerns, and frustration with the verification process.

State Budget Comparison: Who's Spending What on Health Per Capita in 2025-26

We compiled health spending per capita across all states and territories. The gaps are stark: the ACT spends $4,200 per resident while Queensland spends $2,800. What explains the difference?

The Rise of AI in Australian Public Service: 67 Agencies Now Using It

From fraud detection at the ATO to permit processing in local councils, AI adoption across government has tripled since 2024. We mapped every known deployment and assessed the governance frameworks.

Housing Australia's Scorecard: 6 Months In, How Many Homes Are Actually Being Built

The Housing Australia Future Fund promised to catalyse 30,000 social and affordable homes. Six months after the first investments, we tracked actual construction starts against the targets.

What 5 Years of FOI Data Tells Us About Government Transparency Trends

We analysed 5 years of Freedom of Information request outcomes across federal agencies. Processing times are up 34%, full release rates are down, and some agencies now refuse more than they release.