Public Servants Interviewed For Oral History

MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
13 December 2004

CAREER PUBLIC SERVANTS INTERVIEWED FOR ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interviews with six career public servants about the culture and work practices of the public service prior to 1986 will be handed over to the Turnbull Library's Oral History Centre this week.

The project was funded by the State Services Commission and carried out by Megan Hutching, Senior Oral Historian for the History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

'There has been a great change since the mid-1980s in the way that people have treated the public service as a career and in the way that government agencies are organised,' Ms Hutching said.

'The aim of this project was to record the experiences of people who had a long career in the public service before that time, particularly in departments that no longer exist.

'The interviews are chronological, beginning with the interviewee's life before beginning work, and then working through their public service careers. They cover the way in which departments were organised and how work was done, along with the social life and customs of departments.

'I was also interested in recording the interviewees' thoughts about the institution of the public service itself and the role of public servants.'

ENDS

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