ABSTRACT
In a fast-paced and competitive environment, innovation is no longer considered a luxury in public sector organisations. Hence, various stakeholders at different levels in the public sector should be open to different trajectories of development to deliver better products and services to their communities. This study investigated innovation at the individual, organisational, climate and team levels through a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach. The findings from the multiple regression revealed that H1 was supported and suggested that key barriers impact the ability to innovate in public sector organisations at the individual level. H2, H3 and H4 were not supported and suggested that key barriers have a non-significant impact on the ability to innovate in public sector organisations at the organisational, team and climate levels. In addition, H5, H6, H7 and H8 were supported and suggested that leadership characteristics have an impact on the ability to innovate in such organisations at the individual, organisational, team and climate levels. Moreover, H9, H10, H11 and H12 were supported and indicated that organisational climate has an impact on the ability to innovate in the public sector at the individual, organisational, team and climate levels. Based on the qualitative analysis, the findings revealed three critical issues and their mechanisms that could enhance or impede innovation in Australian public sector organisations, such as organisational barriers; leadership characteristics; and organisational climate issues.
