Elizabeth Proust - a widely experienced company director, business leader and who was also a leading member of Victoria’s Public Service – has joined the Research Committee of the New Democracy Foundation. The committee includes former West Australian Labor premier Geoff Gallop and former NSW Liberal premier Nick Griener.The New Democracy Foundation (nDF) is supporting initiatives designed to improve Public trust and participation in Australia’s governance. The nDF is also involved in international projects seeking the same outcome – including one sponsored by the United Nations.https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/ 

“We live in a world where organisations have learnt to exploit our privacy for commercial and political gain. This needs to change. Our parliaments should set down a new standard for privacy protection that matches the global baseline set by the GDPR. This will fix the confusing mix of laws and regulations, thereby providing greater clarity, certainty and stronger enforcement. It will also build trust in the community that our governments and businesses are using personal data in ways that are respectful of people’s wishes and their privacy.” George Williams, Dean of Law, University of New South Wales.

“Australia needs a circuit breaker when it comes to constitutional change. One option would be for parliament or an independent body to hold a review of the Constitution…This could be one way of educating the community and drawing them into a conversation about how the Constitution can reflect their aspirations for the nation. An independent commission should also be charged with engaging with constitutional change in a non-partisan manner. It should have an ongoing role of identifying where there is a need for reform and where this would attract broad community support.” George Williams, Dean of Law, University of NSW

The Australian Prime Minister has announced changes to the structure of the Public Service to put Australians at the centre of Government. The number of Government departments is to be reduced from 18 to 14, to ensure that the services that Australians rely on are delivered more efficiently and effectively.The public service should not only be ”efficiently and effectively” delivering services, but also have well thought through policy options for consideration of big issues through a thorough “Green and White Paper” process-  comparing the costs and benefits of alternative policy options, explaining how a policy decision would be rolled out and issuing a Green Paper to invite public feedback before announcing a policy decision in a White paper.