The ACT: A Small Public Service Responds Effectively to the Coronavirus Pandemic
YOUR IPAA 
Rebecca Cross and Katy Haire from the ACT Government in conversation with David Pembroke, Founder and CEO of contentgroup.
Earlier this week, Rebecca Cross, ACT Coordinator-General for the COVID-19 Response and Katy Haire, Director-General, ACT Education Directorate Secretary, were interviewed for the WORK WITH PURPOSE podcast.
During their conversation, Rebecca reflected that one of the most important things the ACT Government has done in response to the coronavirus pandemic has been to work as one.
‘Because the ACT Public Service is a little bit smaller… we can connect up and we can work across directorates really effectively… that’s one of the things I love about working in ACT Government.’
Katy reiterated the benefits of having a small public service in responding to the threat of bushfires earlier in the year:
‘There wasn’t… whole layers of bureaucracy and protocol. It was just simple decision making and problem solving, that just cuts through a whole lot of time-wasting.’
Katy and Rebecca also discussed the government’s rapid response to the changed learning needs of ACT students: quickly distributing 4,000 high-quality Chromebooks to students and supplying dongles to about 600 families who didn’t have WiFi access. Katy said the speed by which the government was able to provide 5,500 teachers with online professional learning in support of their students took her breath away.
WORK WITH PURPOSE is produced in partnership between contentgroup and IPAA ACT, with the support of the Australian Public Service Commission.
The podcast can be accessed from the link below and is also available on Spotify, SoundCloud and iTunes.