Sally Washington is ANZSOG Practice Fellow (Policy Capability and Public Management). She has worked in senior roles in Aotearoa and internationally. She was inaugural director of the New Zealand Policy Project, based in the New Zealand Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has worked with a range of organisations and jurisdictions seeking to improve their policy capability (including in the UK, States of Jersey, Australia, and Ireland). She spent seven years at the OECD where she managed a network of Heads of Prime Ministers/Presidents Offices from OECD countries and has consulted to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the OECD. She has also worked as an adviser to a New Zealand Cabinet Minister (Minister for Women) and Prime Minister in policy roles, and in joint central agency teams leading public sector reform programs. She has a body of publications on a range of topics including public sector innovation, gender issues, fisheries governance, public sector employment, policy capability, and foresight and futures in government. She contributes across ANZSOG offerings including teaching, thought-leadership and advisory work.

Selected Publications

Hindsight, Insight, Foresight: three lenses for better policy-making, International Review of Public Administration, March 2023. Hindsight, foresight, insight: three lenses for better policy-making: International Review of Public Administration: Vol 0, No 0 (tandfonline.com)

An Infrastructure for Building Policy Capability: lessons from practice, Policy Design and Practice, November 2022.  Full article: An infrastructure for building policy capability – lessons from practice (tandfonline.com)

Centre Stage 2, The Organisation and Functions of the centre of government in OECD countries, OECD, France, 2018

Strengthening Policy Capability: New Zealand’s Policy Project, Policy Design and Practice, Vol 1, 1, March 2018, Singapore (with Michael Mintrom)

“Engendering diversity: women’s employment in the public service”, Policy Quarterly, Vol 11, 1, February 2015, Wellington (with Martin Peak and Katherine Fahey)

“Seismic Shifts: the Canterbury earthquakes and public sector innovation”, in Future-proofing the state: Managing risks, responding to crises and building resilience, Boston, Wanna, Lipski, Prichard (eds), ANU Press, 2014, Australia (with John Ombler)

“Private Standards and certification systems”, in Assessment and management of seafood safety and quality: current practices and emerging issues, Ryder, Karunasagar, and Ababouch (eds), FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 574. FAO, 2014, Rome

“Seismic Shifts: designing and growing innovation capability”, Policy Quarterly, Vol. 9, 1, February 2013, Wellington (with Rachel Groves)

Private Standards and Certification in Fisheries and Aquaculture: current practice and emerging issues, FAO Technical Paper No. 553, FAO, January 2011, Rome

Private Standards in fisheries and aquaculture: current practice and emerging issues, Globefish Research Programme, volume 97, April 2009, FAO, Rome

Ecolabels and Marine Capture Fisheries: current practice and emerging issues, Globefish Research Programme, volume 91, FAO, April 2008, Rome

“’Hands Up’: Mentoring in the New Zealand Public Service”, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 32, No.2, Summer, 2003, USA (with Gambir Bhatta)

“Evaluation in New Zealand”, in International Atlas of Evaluation, Furubo, Rist, Sandahl (eds), Transaction Publishers, 2002, NJ, USA (with David Turner)