As Australia's public sector outsources more and more of its thinking on public service reform, the Productivity Commission has become an increasingly important, independent voice.

In this Brotherhood Talk, we examine the role of a major Australian institution. The Productivity Commission has provided independent advice to governments on economic, social and environmental matters, while maintaining a focus on advancing the interests of the community at large, since it was set up in 1998.

Peter Harris AO served as Commission chair for five years to 2018. He says it is a measure of the Commission's value that many countries are very interested to copy it.

He's in conversation here with Alison McClelland AM, a former commissioner, as well as a life member of the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre on 8 August 2019.

Links

Read more about the report Peter Harris discusses, Shifting the Dial: 5 year productivity review - Inquiry report

Read more about the book Alison McClellan refers to, Revisiting Henderson: Poverty, social security and basic income

Duration: 49 minutes, 51 seconds

Published/podcast: November 2019

Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon Lee

Music: Lee Rosevere

Transcript: The Productivity Commission: A key voice on policy reform (185kb PDF)