eBook Listing

Digital transformation across the public sector has stalled. After over 25 years of considerable time, money, and effort at national, state, and local levels, we’re still not 'there' yet. The reason is that successive waves of investment in digital transformation have focused largely on improving the transactional functions and activities of government. They have failed to embrace a bigger challenge - the need for governing and government to rethink a new 'theory of the business' - which that same revolution has caused and to which it is an inescapable part of the answer.

 

This is a unique, timely, and distinctly Australian look at a global phenomenon by two 'reflective practitioners'. Their personal and practical experience of digital transformation in government and the public sector in Australia suggests it is a story missing half its plot.

 

Packed full of insights from government and digital leaders from around Australia and across the world, this is a much-needed practical guide for public servants and leaders in any jurisdiction. It contains insights and ideas about the way digital technologies, and their associated tools, platforms, and cultures, are changing the business of governing and the design and delivery of public policy and services.

 

"Are We There Yet? lucidly diagnoses how digital technologies, including AI and big data, are transforming the role of the public servant and the project of governance itself. Stewart-Weeks and Cooper describe the important shift from power to problem-solving and explain how to harness digital transformation to make government work better for all of us.” - Beth Noveck, author of Wiki Government, former Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the Obama White House, Professor in Technology, Culture & Society, New York University and Chief Innovation Officer for New Jersey

 

"I've read a lot about the potential impact of digital technology on public services … this is the first book to persuade me that the power of digital, properly conceived, really can transform the nature of democratic governance." - Professor Peter Shergold AC, Chancellor, Western Sydney University, Former Secretary, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

Growing old may at times seem cruel but Bernadette Smallwood offers a tender alternative view, of enduring love and friendship even when the mind is not what it once was. Her story, Around the Corner, is a collection of vignettes set in an aged care home. It focuses on two residents and the visiting husband of one who is an aged movie star plagued with dementia. Each vignette can be read separately or as a connected series. This is a gentle story which will surely resonate with those that are aged, who have aged family and friends, or those who work as carers for the aged.

Arrabella Candellarbra is like no one you've ever met before, even though her questy thing is the stuff of legend. Okay, the hilarious epic-fantasy spoofery adult fairy-tale kind of legend.

Arrabella, a beautiful, flaxen-haired maiden trained in all things warrior-like by the most famous warriors of all - The Reginas - embarks on a quest to claim her birthright and to wield the power of all the lands.

Arrabella joins forces with Lord Langley Kilkenny - the perfect specimen of manliness; icicle-bearded Gary - the wisest of all Wizards; and Prince Jim - the very-fey fairy Regent.

The Four Adventurers soon find themselves pitted against the Evil Betty-Sue - the meanest of evil beings in all of the lands - and her scary minions. Yes, our heroes must defeat Sawtoothed Bunnies, Viscous-Tongued Frogs and the Barella Monkeys to rescue The Reginas from... something!

Nothing could possibly go wrong on a quest like this, could it?

Featuring heroic heroes and a host of characters and creatures never before assembled in one story, this epic fairy tale for grown-ups delivers love and lust, action and inaction, battles, incantations, sexual shenanigans and high-kicking sing-a-longs. It promises that all those epic questy things will never be the same again. Seriously!

This book is about Lysias. A Greek boy who refused to learn geometry, but became a doctor and had many adventures. He worked for Pyrrhus who fought against the Roman Republic and had many Pyrrhic victories. After Lysias is seduced early in life by the mysterious, alluring Artemisia, their fates are intertwined off-and-on for the rest of their lives, interrupted by Lysiai's involvement in ferocious battles alongside, Pyrrhus. After many adventures, Lysias and Artemisia travelled to Egypt, to the colourful world of the Ptolemys.

Arthur Roberts was a schoolmaster in country NSW (1861 to 1894) and it was education and the changing educational system that shaped his life. Born in the hop-growing region of Kent, England, his life and prospects were transformed by a wave of educational reform that carried him far from family, class and country. Roberts found himself on the frontier of attempts to establish a national school system in Australia. With a swiftly growing family - one with a severe disability - he was moved from one struggling district to another, fighting insolvency, ignorance, natural disaster and bitter sectarian divides. His letters requesting schoolroom furniture, upgrades to buildings and teaching assistants give some insight into his plight. Photographs and family folklore reveal a taciturn, deeply flawed man while the evidence of writings (as Scone correspondent for The Maitland Mercury) suggests a fiery intelligence and defiant pride. This is amplified by a portrait of Roberts in Havelock Ellis' autobiographical novel, Kanga Creek. The schoolmaster, Mr Williams, is portrayed as an educated and passionate agnostic who uses the pen name Anti-Humbug when writing letters to The Stockwhip, a journal possibly modeled on publications like The Bulletin. This narrative presents these contradictions and hopefully gives the reader some sense of this teacher's journey.

Professor Arthur Schüller (1874-1957) was a distinguished pioneer in the field of neuroradiology. His research rapidly made him the pre-eminent authority on the radiology of the skull and brain in the German-speaking world, particularly after the publication of his two books, including a monograph on diseases of the head, which became the standard textbook throughout the "classic era" of neuroradiology.

 

He was a university professor at the age of 35, author of many scientific articles in medical journals, and is credited with the first description of three diseases and three operations.

 

Schüller was also a refugee - fleeing Austria with his wife in 1938 and settling in Melbourne in 1939. The analysis of his career is woven into the personal history of his family. Tragically, his later years were darkened by the news from Europe that his two sons had perished in a concentration camp.

When their Tokyo plane is grounded in Sydney, due to cabin mist, the Frequent Flyer Twins become involved in an oriental antique mystery. What is being artnapped? Why are security guards watching the Rembrandt? And why is the dealer so interested in Amy's phone card collection?

There's a mix up with photos. What has happened to photographs of the newly married Japanese wedding tourist group? What about Tess, the art student who is working her way around the world? She can draw very well. Is she what she seems or is she a fake? Why is there a silver container in her luggage? Where is the missing Ming dynasty vase from the ancestral shrine? What is the courier carrying in the briefcase chained to his arm and where do the R.P.G. group fit in?

En route for Tokyo, the Frequent Flyer Twins solve a mystery.

In her memoir, Ask No Questions, Eva Collins charts her family's journey from Poland to Australia during the Cold War. Her restrained tone reflects the threat her parents experienced of the Communist regime and of ubiquitous anti-Semitism. Simply written and deeply moving she captures loss and gain, grief and celebration with great poignancy. With a third of Australians born overseas and half the population with one migrant parent, Ask No Questions forms a crucial part of our national experience. Its accessible poetry is particularly suited for young adult readers.

The stories of Renate Yates are admired for their exploration of the foibles, frailties and expectations of people. They are beautifully crafted and perceptive.

Renate Yates is also the author of three novels and the translation of an account written by her father Ernst Raubitschek of his journey to and imprisonment in the Dachau Concentration camp: By Train To Dachau.

Her short stories have been published in many literary journals and compilations, and this updated collection contains many new stories, which are most welcome.

A juicy piece of trivia is like a beautiful fresh cut of protein. It needs to be handled just right. Some fillets of trivia work well as a question, others are best posed as a ‘Did you know’. Some have so much flesh on them that they are better served up as a whole story or essay. That is what you will find between these pages, a smorgasbord of trivia treats to feast upon. Like a buffet on a cruise ship, you can start at the beginning and work your way along, you can push in at any point for the one tasty treat that you want, or you can fill a small plate and come back over and over again.

 

This is possibly the most complete book of Rock Trivia ever compiled and the morsels will astonish …

 

Did you know that in 2013 Chubby Checker sued Hewlett-Packard over a 99-cent app called the ‘Chubby Checker’ which allowed users to enter a man’s shoe size to estimate the size of his penis? He claimed that the product would cause damage to his goodwill, tarnishing his image. Trivia with a twist?

 

Did you know that Charles Manson co-wrote a song for the Beach Boys?

 

Plus hundreds of questions to tease and expand the mind.

 

"At last ... a rock trivia book that is not at all trivial! This is a remarkable collection of questions, facts, myths, stories, jokes, riddles and answers. Number one with a bullet!" - Brian Nankervis, ABC Radio and RocKwiz host.

 

"This is the book that we music trivia nuts have been waiting for. Even if you think you know it all there'll be something that surprises you. Read it from front to back or just dip into it when you need a trivia top up. I love it!" - Murray Cook, The Wiggles, The Soul Movers

Seven Australians and one New Zealander set out on an epic adventure to trek Papua New Guineaís remote Black Cat Track. As they make their first steps toward the track, they have no inkling of the disaster that will enfold them.

Situated to the north of the Kokoda Track, the Black Cat Track is reputed to be much more demanding than its more famous neighbour, and these intrepid trekkers are keen to test themselves against its gruelling terrain. They share an avid interest in WWII military history, and with some excitement they learn that the Black Cat Track is littered with evidence of the savage battles between Australian and Japanese forces. The trekkers are also keen to experience the culture of the local people.

Suddenly, events take a violent turn. Tribal tension erupts around them, and the trekking party is subjected to a horrifying attack. In its blood-stained aftermath a strong bond develops between the trekkers and the PNG porters.

Ultimately, this is a story about culture shock, tragedy, heroism, generosity, and of an unlikely yet enduring bond of friendship that has develop out of a shared traumatic experience.ed traumatic experience.

A fascinating look at both famous and not-so-famous dogs from down under. There's the 'Red Dog', celebrated in a movie in 2011, and 'Bob the Railway Dog', which has a bestselling book written about him. There are assistance animals and guide dogs, war heroes and everyday ones, dogs that save lives and dogs whose lives are saved. All loyal, loving, brave in their ways and with doggy hearts of gold.

Here in Australia we've got some of the worlds most UNIQUE... and most DANGEROUS creatures on the planet!

You may not see KANGAROOS jumping down the street, but you're sure to see plenty of the WILD & WONDERFUL... and NOT just at the Zoo, there's a lot right OUTd'BACKyard!

Whether they're CUTE and CUDDLY... CREEPY CRAWLY, WET and Wild or just WEIRD, there's stuff to know about our Aussie WILDLIFE. The OUTd'BACKyard guide can help you spot what's SAFE and what's NOT... in your own backyard.

In Brisbane's maximum-security prison awaiting trial, Joe Tog composed a series of short narratives for his defence-barrister. The barrister said that the notes gave him a clarity that he did not normally get from cold, hard facts and dates. Out of that comment grew this story.

The ever popular and thoroughly entertaining Aussie Slang Dictionary is back to help you decipher and speak the true local language. Full of dazzling definitions from true-blue Aussies, you'll never be lost for words with this collection of colourful sayings. From 'aerial ping-pong' (AFL) to 'on the wrong tram' (to be following the wrong train of thought) and finishing up with some 'verbal diarrhoea' (never-ending blather), your mind will be brimming with useful (and not so useful!) sayings for your next run-in with a true Aussie character.