The increasing international use of consulting firms in public administration has attracted warnings against diminishing policy capability, accountability and transparency. Whilst significant debates and multiple tensions exist, this article introduces an innovative Australian model which provides scope to harness and balance the strengths of the contributions of consultants and consultancy firms to improve government policy capacity. We argue that advantages exist for engaging Tier 1 consultants provided the conditions are right. Moving past binary debates about whether or not consultants should be used in the public sector, we call for a more nuanced understanding and discussion about how to better leverage expertise, comparative analysis and contestability. Using Wu et al.’s (Policy Soc 34(3–4):165–171, 2015) framework, our pragmatic and sophisticated approach shifts theory and practice on the use of consultants to ensure clarity in the rationale of seeking external advice in order to build or improve policy capacity.

咨询公司在公共行政领域的国际使用越来越多，引起了人们对政策能力、问责制和透明度下降的警告。虽然存在重大辩论和多重紧张局势，但本文介绍了一种创新的澳大利亚模式，该模式为利用和平衡顾问和咨询公司的贡献优势以提高政府政策能力提供了空间。我们认为，只要条件合适，聘用一级顾问就有优势。过去关于是否应该在公共部门使用顾问的二元辩论，我们呼吁对如何更好地利用专业知识、比较分析和竞争性进行更细致入微的理解和讨论。使用 Wu 等人的 (Policy Soc 34(3–4):165–171, 2015) 框架，