Author: Dr Warren Pearce “This is to imagine that there could be a point where ethics and politics could perfectly coincide, and this is precisely what I am denying because it means erasing the violence that is inherent in sociability, violence that no contract or dialogue can eliminate because it constitutes one of their dimensions.” … Continue reading “Public participation, ethical expertise and epistemic authority: lessons from the IPCC”
Tag: public sector
How to Avoid Robodebt 2.0: Lessons for Public Sector Ethics
Author: Dr Sarah Ball In August 2025, I had the privilege of joining the Australian Catholic University (ACU) and the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) for a webinar called “How to Avoid Robodebt 2.0.” Held during Social Sciences Week, the session explored the ethical lessons of the Robodebt scandal — a chapter in Australian … Continue reading “How to Avoid Robodebt 2.0: Lessons for Public Sector Ethics”
Ethics-policy advisory ecosystems (Part 2): a potted history
In Part 1, Jessica Pykett has discussed the history of ethics-policy advisory ecosystems. In the second part, she presents some of our research project’s findings and maps of how advisory systems are organised across Australia, Germany, and the UK. Draft institutional maps of ethics advice to governments: UK, Germany and Australia In our current research, … Continue reading “Ethics-policy advisory ecosystems (Part 2): a potted history”
Annual Board Meeting of the “Ethics & Expertise” Research Project
In a rare event of sunny and warm British summer, “Ethics & Expertise” project has brought together project team and Advisory Board to review the work done over the last year and set the direction for the next one. Over two days, we presented our emergent findings and ran a workshop with members of Ethox … Continue reading “Annual Board Meeting of the “Ethics & Expertise” Research Project”
Australian AI in health ethics witness seminar
Author: Dr Sarah Ball In November 2024, the Australian investigators for the ESRC funded project “Expertise and Ethics in Times of Crisis” ran a witness seminar with six deidentified participants to get a better understanding of the ethics advisory landscape in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) in health policy. During this seminar we learned a lot about the … Continue reading “Australian AI in health ethics witness seminar “
Ethics capabilities in civil service: reflections from a roundtable
This #GlobalEthicsDay, we’ve been reflecting at the ESRC “Ethics and Expertise” policy roundtable with UK experts on how science, policy and ethics intersect. We wanted to find out more about whether ‘ethics expertise’ and ‘ethics training’ are needed or wanted as part of the professional capabilities of civil servants, what kinds of forms this might … Continue reading “Ethics capabilities in civil service: reflections from a roundtable”
Ethics and Expertise in times of crisis: takeaways from the 2nd Advisory Board meeting
The ESRC-funded “Ethics and Expertise” project has been progressing over the last year and is currently in its data collection phase. In July 2024, researchers from participating institutions, including the Universities of Birmingham, Bielefeld, Sheffield, Melbourne, and Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB), had the second meeting with the project’s Advisory Board in Berlin. The meeting … Continue reading “Ethics and Expertise in times of crisis: takeaways from the 2nd Advisory Board meeting”
The institutional embeddedness of ethics advice
Author: Prof. Dr. Holger Straßheim This is Part 1 of Prof Staßheim’s reflections of international comparative analysis of ethics bodies and committees. Part 2 will focus on Civic Epistemologies. Probably one of the most pressing problems within recent studies of ethics advice and expertise concerns the institutional and cultural embeddedness of science-policy relations. In this … Continue reading “The institutional embeddedness of ethics advice”
Insights from “Rebuilding trust and integrity in the Australian Public Service” conference
Author: Dr Sarah Ball Our ESRC funded project “Expertise and Ethics in Times of Crisis” explores forms of ethical advice provided to governments and how that advice is perceived. While we are specifically focused on cases of crisis, the institutional forms and cultural norms surrounding the provision of ethical advice influence how and when that advice is … Continue reading “Insights from “Rebuilding trust and integrity in the Australian Public Service” conference”