In this episode of Govcomms, we are joined by the Deputy Secretary of Revenue NSW, Scott Johnston. Scott is an internationally recognised statistician specialising in economic analysis, with a history of working as a senior leader across the Australian and United Kingdom public sectors.With our host David Pembroke, Scott discusses why Revenue NSW started to focus on a more customer-centred approach.“The tension of an organization that's primary purpose through history has been about collecting revenue - 40% of NSW budget comes from us - to stepping back and thinking, ‘Well, if we can provide an exceptional service to three and a half million people, the revenue will take care of itself’. But actually the relationship we have with people, which is an ongoing one, can thrive. That's made us fundamentally look at things differently.” – Scott JohnstonFurther, Scott discusses his views on integrating automation technology and artificial intelligence to improve customer experience.Tune in to the episode to learn how Scott’s leadership in digital transformation and focus on providing high quality customer service is creating impact at Revenue NSW.Discussed in this episode:Leading digital transformation and customer-centric designMitigating risks when integrating automation and AI technologyBeing a humble leader and driving effective collaboration Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"This story of Orange Sky really started a few years, before Orange Sky got kicked off in high school, my best mate, Nic and I went to school together and our school actually ran a food service for people doing it tough. So we had this opportunity when we were 15, to head out, cook breakfast for people, a kilometre from where we went to school who were sleeping in the park or sleeping, crisis accommodation centres around that centre." - Lucas Patchett In the latest episode of the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose podcast series, we chat with Lucas Patchett whos is the co-founder of Orange Sky alongside his best mate Nic Marchesi. Orange Sky is a platform that provides " for every day Australians to connect through a regular laundry and shower service. The focus is on creating a safe, positive and supportive environment for people who are too often ignored or who feel disconnected from the community. Our volunteers are not social workers or experts on homelessness - they are empathetic listeners and great conversationalists."Dr. Taylor Wilmott, a member of the University of Adelaide's research team for the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose research project, also joins us in this episode."So we spoke about a different food van, we spoke about showers in the first instance to, but then we said, "Well, actually let's just do one thing, do it well, give it a go and then we can build on it from there." And that I think has been a really key foundation to what we do now. It's really simple. It's doing a couple of things really well and then plugging in and collaborating with other service providers to make the biggest impact possible." - Lucas PatchettDiscussed in this episode: The importance of prioritising one thing at a time. How to overcome challenges and flip roadblocks into positive outcomes. Why you should have a clear and simple vision.To check out everything Orange sky does head to: https://orangesky.org.au/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this latest episode of GovComms we revisit a conversation from the 2022 Digital Government Festival hosted by the University of Melbourne. Robert Christie, Founder and Managing Director of Propel, Stephanie Speck, Chief Communications Officer at the Victoria Department of Education and Training, and David Pembroke, CEO of contentgroup, discuss the potentiality of active participation within the digital landscape for the public sector. "If you're not active in managing what you look like, what you say, your reputation and voice online, then someone else will be using that as an opportunity." - Stephanie Speck.As Pembroke points out, the current challenge lies in maturing relationships between government agencies and departments, as well as political officers, to find a space in which the guardrails are respectful and understood so that the public is better informed about what the government is doing.Tune in for tips galore and to find out how you can improve your digital reputation. Discussed in this episode:Managing your online presenceGovernment and its digital reputation The importance of continuous, focused, content and communication  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Arm yourself with the evidence you need to make a case... We shouldn't sit there in our own little bubbles and focus on our communication skills only... At the end of the day, we are business people just like everybody else, and we need to act like business people." - Sia Papageorgiou.Host David Pembroke engages in a discussion with multi-award-winning strategic communications leader and Managing Partner at the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence, Sia Papageorgiou."Our job is to build relationships with people. That is the key component of our role." I mean obviously strategic planning is important and you can't be an effective communication professional if you don't plan strategically. " Tune in to discover how to make a "real impact from often simple ideas." - David Pembroke.Discussed in this episode: How to demonstrate impact and create value through communications.Making a "real impact from often simple ideas." - David Pembroke.Building relationships with your audience Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Doing that allows us to be more personalised with our communications. And that's definitely the future for us in government communications, you know? Making it more personalised. To be honest, the less we communicate the better. Because people are so busy these days, they don't want to hear from you with emails every day, or how many emails do you get every day in your inbox? It's so frustrating and we understand that. We get that feedback from customers.." - Angela Kamper A new GovComms season begins with Angela Kamper. Angela is the Executive Director for Brand Digital and Communications at the New South Wales Department of Customer Service. Host, David Pembroke, chats with Angela about how her previous career in journalism has helped her in her role at the Department of Customer Service."Sometimes people are a bit skeptical of journalism, so when you first start in government, people have been burnt perhaps, in the past or story hasn't been told the way they want it wanted it to be told. So when you come in as a journalist, you need to kind of sell yourself a little bit in the beginning, and start really focusing on building those internal relationships and showing how your storytelling can help them to get the right message across in a better way, so people can listen and engage with content." - Angela KamperThe pair discuss how the view of Government communications has changed throughout the years."In the past, people would often go to comms in a crisis. But now they've realised that, well, we actually have to engage the community before we make a decision. So we are playing a different role now, and we are really demonstrating that when you engage the community, you get a much better policy outcome, or programme outcome" - Angela Kamper Finally, David and Angela share some of the key aspects of the Department of Customer Service that make it a global leader in citizen-centric communications. Discussed in this episode:Personalising Government Communications The benefits of a Journalist background The inner workings of the Department of Customer Service Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we give you a 2022 reality mega mix.We revisit some of the key conversations from 2022 with the likes of Melinda Maddock, Richard Morecroft, Tim Price, Evan Ekin-Smyth, Melanie Gibbons, Deborah Rice and Stephanie Speck.Join in one the conversation as we talk all about the fundamentals of communications. "I think we need to move away from BAU plus COVID. BAU is COVID now. There is no going back to normal. We are in the next normal and systemic complex risk that we have to deal with." - Stephanie Speck"I really feel like modern digital communication, it's still got the elements of storytelling which have existed for thousands of years. Humans want to connect with other humans and we connect through stories. ". - Tim PriceDiscussed In this episode: The art of storytellingSolutions to some of the key issues the communications field facesHow you can use social media and digital content to your advantageSome key skills for any and all communicators Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we take to the air and view the state of government communication from 30,000 feet.With a little help from some of the guests we interviewed in 2022, we embark on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. As part of our best bits episode, we bring back some of our key conversations with guests Carlotta Alfonsi, Sanjay Pradhan, Karine Badr, Jodie Conduit, Patrick Kidd and Sharyn Rundle-Thiele."Citizens actually look at the government as unitary. They don't understand or necessarily care about the silos of the internal bureaucracy of government. When they see disjointed or not coordinated messages coming their way, it can create confusion and it can actually undermine the efficacy of each of the communication of different ministries that might on their own be quite well crafted and effective." - Carlotta Alfonsi"The fact that the nature of work is changing, technology is being used across all jobs. Nine out of 10 jobs will need people who are digitally literate in the next three years". - Patrick KiddDiscussed In this episode: The importance of citizen centric governmentChallenges of facing both misinformation and disinformationCohesive CommunicationWhy collective engagement is so important Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wanting to look at the crystal ball of communications?In this special episode we dive into the future of communications.David Pembroke, CEO and Founder of contentgroup, who hosts the podcast regularly, sits down with long-time friend Andrew Bell. As they fast forward to 2023, they discuss what may be next for government communications."The ambition for communication inside government and the public sector should be to better explain and better listened to people such that there is a greater understanding because ultimately, if there is a better understanding, we can build trust because that is a challenge. The Edelman Trust Barometer in Australia this year showed that only 52% of Australians trust government institutions." - David PembrokeDiscussed in this episode: RecruitmentWhy communications should be seen as a long-term career in the APSMeeting the needs of citizens Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we come up to the end of the year, host of the GovComms podcast, David Pembroke, reflects on the year that was.Taking the guest chair for a change, David chats with old time friend Andrew Bell about all things 2022. With the help of some of the key interviews from the GovComms podcast, the pair discuss the highs and lows that the communications space has experienced this year."I think with the benefit of hindsight, we are going to look back on this last 12-month period as a bit of a tipping point.... As a comms person, you should be nosy. You should be getting out there and talking to people, not sitting behind your desk. You need to discover and know what's going on, and be able to invite yourself to meetings that perhaps you're not being invited to at the moment. And when you are there, able to explain to your policy and programme colleagues about this wonderful capability that you are going to be able to have, and the benefit that it can bring to the people that you're seeking to serve.." - David Pembroke Discussed in this episode: OECD Conference for Public Sector CommunicationsThe emphasis on discoverable contentImpacts of the approval process Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"In 2019, this department of customer service [was] created. And I think the mission at the time that we were set was to make New South Wales the world's most customer-centric government. And that's the mission that we're on." - William MurphyWe are wrapping up our interviews on a high note with a jam-packed episode of inspiration featuring William Murphy, NSW Government's Deputy Secretary for Customer Delivery and Transformation.Host, David Pembroke, chats with William about some of the key changes that have occurred since switching to a customer service mindset."Well, I speak to a lot of public servants to talk to them about this. And what we've got in New South Wales government, we've got a set of things we call the New South Wales customer commitments. These are things that we've pulled out of our research over years that are the things that customers expect from us. And they are things like they expect our services to be easy to access. They expect us to respect their time when dealing with us. They expect us to make clear to them what might be the outcome of their interaction with government." - William MurphyMentioned at the most recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conference for Public sector communications, NSW Government has set a precedent for how Communications should be."The story of New South Wales digital transformation is being shared with governments around the world. Because I think where you are at... I think you're leading the way and you've carved this path." - David Pembroke In addition, the pair discuss the importance of having one touchpoint for critical life events like marriages, births, and deaths. Discussed in this episode:Becoming customer-centricThe importance of research and innovationWhy you should "just get started""The only advice I'd have for people is really just get started. It's not rocket science and it's not huge stuff. Some of the things that we started in now, we have a programme of work called Government Made Easy. Sounds pretty simple. " - William Murphy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.