How do public servants frame and practise empathy?

Abstract

This article examines how public servants use empathy in their work by distinguishing between empathy as a frame or a way of defining phenomena, and empathy as a practice or a concrete way through which care, understanding, and responsiveness are enacted. Drawing on survey data from the public service of New South Wales, Australia, the study identifies five categories of empathetic practice: helping clients, improving communication, facilitating teamwork, decision-making, and program design. Our findings show that while empathy is often framed by public servants as a feeling or an emotional state, it is also used in practice as a cognitive and political tool, enabling public servants to frame problems, engage with lived experience, and challenge dominant assumptions embedded in policy settings. This article contributes to our understanding of empathy as a distinct practice in public servants’ work which can inform the design of institutional settings that enable empathy in public service.

Points for practitioners

• Empathy can be a strategic skill, not just a soft skill. It can help public servants interpret evidence, understand diverse perspectives, and make decisions that lead to better outcomes for clients.

• Empathy should be supported across a variety of roles, not just at the frontline. Public service leaders should create space for empathetic engagement in policy and organisational processes.
• Lived experience should inform policy design and advice. Practising empathy means going beyond consultation to meaningfully incorporate the experiences of people affected by policy in program design.