Festival of Governance 2022: Good governance because fairer is better

As is tradition on Good Friday, the Good Governance Institute announced the theme for this year's Festival of Governance: Good governance because fairer is better.

Here at GGI we've been discussing the Nolan Principles and we’ve decided we want to campaign for fairness to be added as the eighth principle.

The Nolan Principles form the basis of a code of ethics for people in public life or for those who work in the public sector.

There have been some encouraging stories this year, such as last week’s appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court – the first black female justice in its 233-year history. However, since our last Festival, barely a week has passed without a scandal that has left the public reeling and crying out for good principled governance and, above all, fairness.

This year’s Festival of Governance will be an opportunity for people to meet and talk about the Nolan Principles and how the principle of fairness can improve public life.

Fairness can mean a lot of things to a lot of people at different times. After much deliberation we arrived at a draft version of the eighth principle:

Holders of public office must not abuse their position of privilege and avoid benefitting one at the expense of another. Decisions and policies should be made and fairly applied without discrimination. Decision-makers must make a conscious effort to engage representatives from a diverse group of people.

This year’s Festival of Governance is an opportunity for leaders from across the public, third and private sectors to collaboratively refine this important new principle and explore how principled governance can create better, fairer organisations.

More on the Festival of Governance website.