Long-term Insights Briefings
Long-term Insights Briefings are being developed by the Australian Public Service to examine specific policy challenges that may affect Australia in the medium and long term. The Australian Government announced this in October 2022.
The briefings make information and analysis about trends, risks, and opportunities that may affect Australia widely available. They strengthen policy development and planning by helping the APS understand community views, evidence and implications of long-term challenges. They contribute to the stewardship of the APS by building the capability and institutional knowledge of the APS for long-term thinking, and position the APS to support the public interest now and into the future, by understanding the long-term impacts of what the APS does.
The purpose of the briefings is not to make recommendations or predictions about what will happen in the future. Instead, they provide a base to underpin future policy thinking and decision making on specific policy challenges that may affect Australia and the Australian community in the medium and long term.
Long-term Insights Briefings started with a proof-of-concept pilot. This pilot began in June 2023 and the results were published in October 2023. The pilot briefing explored how artificial intelligence might affect the trustworthiness of public service delivery. This topic was endorsed by the Secretaries Board and brought together expertise from across the APS.
The pilot used community and expert engagement, together with research and futures thinking, to explore how AI could transform public service delivery and the potential impacts of these changes on the trustworthiness of public service delivery. The pilot found the community expects the APS to use AI in ways that demonstrate integrity, competence and empathy, and deliver a clear improvement in public services. It also offers insights into how the APS can ensure AI contributes to high-quality and trustworthy public services in the future:
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AI must be designed and implemented with integrity
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using AI shouldn't come at the expense of empathy
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AI should improve the performance of public services
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supporting people to use AI-enabled services in the long-term is required in order to achieve successful service delivery.
The Long-term Insights Briefings model considers best practice and learnings from other jurisdictions, including New Zealand, but has been designed to work for Australia. This includes by leveraging existing structures within Government.
Long-term Insights Briefings will be developed through genuine partnership and engagement with the Australian community on issues affecting them, as well as with experts from the public service, academia, industry and the not-for-profit sector.
These briefings are part of the Australian Government’s APS Reform agenda, particularly putting people and business at the centre of policy and services. Subject to the passage of legislation, the Public Service Amendment Bill 2023 will require the Secretaries Board to commission at least one long-term insights report each financial year.
See Also
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (n.d.) Long-term Insights Briefings, PM&C website, https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/long-term-insights-briefings, accessed 31 October 2023.