MasterCraft Series: Why Bureaucracy Matters - Trust, Craft & Reform
In this MasterCraft Series session, Dr Subho Banerjee draws out the ideas behind Professor David Schmidtchen’s six-part ‘Why Bureaucracy Matters’ series published in The Mandarin, starting with why public agencies must balance competing democratic values (accountability, equity, efficiency, responsiveness, transparency).
The conversation moves beyond ‘red tape’ to consider bureaucracy as a builder of trust and legitimacy, a form of public-sector craft that turns information into action, and a practical lens for evaluating reform proposals before we ‘take down fences’ we don’t yet understand.
*Please note this event will be recorded. You can view this video when available and other MasterCraft Series events here.
Presenter
Professor David Schmidtchen
Professor David Schmidtchen is Professor of Practice in Public Sector Management at UNSW Canberra and a leading thinker on leadership, bureaucracy, and organisational change in complex systems.
He works at the intersection of philosophy, literature, and management, examining how public institutions navigate uncertainty and how leaders cultivate judgment, responsibility, and hope in disruption.
David brings together an academic perspective with practical experience. He spent 17 years in the Australian Army as a psychologist before moving into senior roles in the Australian Public Service and consulting firms. He has worked closely with Defence and APS agencies, partnering with senior executives to design and deliver large-scale workforce, leadership, organisational transformation, and operating-model reforms.
David writes and speaks widely on leadership, organisational change, and the evolving nature of work. He publishes regularly in The Mandarin and is the author of three books. He translates ideas about large enterprise philosophy and operations into clear, practical insights for leaders operating in uncertain environments.
Dr Subho Banerjee, APSC
Dr Subho Banerjee is the a/g Commissioner of the Australian Public Service Commission. Subho is an experienced SES Band 3 officer, with previous Deputy Secretary roles in the Education and Training, Industry and Climate Change portfolios.
Subho was previously the Deputy CEO, Research and Advisory, at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, where he worked on public sector reform issues at the interface of academia and practice. He has previously held visiting and adjunct academic appointments at the ANU and at Griffith University, and has also worked for a private sector management consultancy, and an Indigenous policy think-tank.
Subho holds a BSc and PhD in Physics from ANU. He also holds Masters qualifications in economic and social history, and environmental change and management, from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar.
Participant benefits
A clear, usable framework for explaining why bureaucracy can feel slow or rigid at times—and how those frictions often stem from unavoidable value trade-offs in democratic administration.
Practical language for strengthening trust and legitimacy, grounded in fairness as experienced by citizens (not just asserted in policy) and in bureaucracy’s role as a ‘sensemaking’ institution.
Suitable for
All Staff
Category and User level
This learning experience aligns with the Working in Government Craft at the Foundation level.
Price
Free of charge