2019 IPAA
National
Conference

Ms Bilawara Lee, a Larrakia Elder, welcomed conference delegates to saltwater country before a performance by One Mob Different Country Dance Group.

Mr Craig Allen, IPAA Northern Territory President, gave the official welcome and then outgoing National President, Professor Peter Shergold AC, spoke of his disquiet with democratic governance being under threat in his National President’s address.

The quietly-spoken Professor Mick Dodson — Northern Territory Treaty Commissioner — delivered the 2019 Garran Oration to a rapt audience and received the loudest and most sustained applause from conference delegates.

Professor Anne Teirnan — Dean (Engagement) at Griffith University — delivered a keynote address on the theme Public Sector Service Delivery: New paradigm, or déjà vu all over again? which led into a panel discussion on the challenges and expectations for public sector place-based service delivery.

Following the lunch break, Mr Alexander Lau — Principal Design Lead, Innovation Lab, Singapore Government — delivered an inspiring keynote address, providing a global perspective on how to adopt innovation in the public sector.  His address is available for viewing below; his slides are also available.

Ms Rachel Houlbrooke — Deputy Chief Executive, Settlements and Takutai Moana, Office for Māori Crown Relations, Te Arawhiti, New Zealand — gave a considered keynote address on different models of public service delivery.

An engaging panel discussion on ‘Doing More with Less’ rounded out the afternoon, followed by IPAA Northern Territory President Mr Craig Allen who closed the conference, thanking all those who attended from across Australia’s public sector.

Two workshops were held the following day:

• How do we innovate in a complex Public Sector environment? with Alexander Lau (Principal Design Lead, Innovation Lab, Singapore Government)
• Why is well-coordinated multi-agency service delivery to remote communities so difficult? How can we break free? with Jim Rogers (Regional Executive Director, Department of Chief Minister, Northern Territory Government).