How We Think

If you missed our last update on the Information Commissioner (IC) FOI Review Procedures – too late, they’re now in force! Jokes aside, the IC’s Review Procedures went live on 1 July 2024. Considering that the starting gun’s been fired, it’s going to be ready, set and go for Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) teams to get on board with the IC’s efforts to streamline and speed-up their FOI Review protocols.

For 16 years, the Australian panel show Gruen has given viewers the inside scoop on the advertising, marketing, and PR industry. For seven years running, the ThinkPlaceX team (formerly as creativeXpeople) has been invited to ‘The Pitch’ – a favourite segment on the show that tasks competing creative thinkers to sell the unsellable.

In May 2024, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released new Information Commissioner (IC) Review Procedure Directions aimed at Commonwealth Government agencies. The IC Direction will require agencies to more actively engage with FOI applicants – and prove that they undertook searches for documents. Taking effect in July 2024, the new IC Directions are part of the OAIC’s commitment to ‘delivering a timely IC review process, informed by the principles of informality, responsiveness and proportionality’.

The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme is a little bit like the game, Monopoly – and specifically the Go Green edition. How? The ACCUs are the Australian ‘policy version’ of the ‘greening game,’ with financial incentives to buy green technologies and initiatives – and disincentives for polluters, with the goal of cleaning up the planet. With ACCUs, Australian businesses receive credits for projects that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This requires projects to meet and follow integrity criteria to ensure that issued ACCUs indeed do avoid or decrease emissions. That’s the official rulebook, but the reality of how the game is played can be a bit different...

In the complex interplay of project deadlines, budgets, work packages, blended teams and deliverables, Agile methodology has become increasingly prominent. But is it truly the holy grail of project management?

Why are procurement and contracting practices adversarial? And more pressingly – Should Commonwealth procurement practices be adversarial? This is a question that has dogged me for longer than I care to remember, particularly as the answer appears to be a resounding ‘yes.’