Government Communication in the Internet Age

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where academics, journalists and public servants are discussing "How government communicates in a complex world". The event is hosted by the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. This features Andrew Hockley, Executive Coordinator, Strategic Policy, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Katharine Murphy, Deputy political editor for Guardian Australia; James Button, Communications Manager, Grattan Institute; Michael Wesley, Professor of National Security, ANU. There is a large contingent in the audience from the Singapore Government. This bookends neatly with the DesignGov Co-Design Workshop I attended this morning.

The panel event was disappointing, they discussed social media as something used for political campaigns. They did not touch on how government might engage with the community about complex, long-term policy, or the public service communicate about its work and role? There was none of the depth of theory and experience in implementation of the Department of Finance's "Proposed online engagement courses for the APS".