The first issue of the Australian Journal of Public Administration (AJPA) was published in December 1937 and contained just two articles. The first was by Sir Herbert Gepp K.B.E.,1 a metallurgist and manager, who joined the public service in 1926. One of his roles in the Australian Public Service was as the chairman of the Development and Migration Commission that was created to ‘apply scientific methods to economic and politics problems in the interests of national development and efficiency’. In his article Gepp (1937) explored the role of the state, its evolution, adaptability, and the challenges posed by economic, political, and social changes. Reform was central to his contribution as was engagement with broader trends around the world, but especially the United States and the United Kingdom. He advocated for the use of research in informing practice and set out a range of recommendations, including suggestions on how to change and manage the civil service. Such themes, of course, would not be foreign to contemporary readers of the AJPA.