While the Coalition government's announcement last week that it will hand over 20 of its empty office buildings around the country to start-up businesses is very welcome, it is also further evidence of the difficulties the public sector appears to have in using space efficiently.

Surely, this would be a great opportunity for the government to move with the times and stop assuming the answer to every public sector organisation's need for office space is to sign a long term, inflexible lease which they then find they don't need a few years down the track.