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Getting It Right

News
6 September 2019

This review is the largest of its kind in 40 years – it is important to get it right.

From the start the panel committed to engaging openly with the APS, and its many partners in business, education, social and other sectors.

Through dialogues, workshops, surveys, events and online the panel received more than 5,000 contributions to the review of Australia’s public service – and we intend to make sure we’ve used those contributions with diligence and due respect. 

The panel is taking the time required to do just that, and deliver recommendations with impact — for Australians, the Parliament and Government, and of course, on the APS itself. The panel welcomes the path outlined by the Prime Minister in his speech to the APS, hosted by the Institute of Public Administration of Australia.

“I will be asking the Secretaries Board under Phil Gaetjen’s leadership to evaluate the review’s recommendations and to report to Cabinet on relevant issues and findings.” – Prime Minister the Hon. Scott Morrison MP

The panel is encouraged by recent public conversations – themes raised by incoming Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy on trust in the public sector and how the APS can work better together to solve complex policy problems; and questions about APS culture raised by one future leader to the Prime Minister at last month’s IPAA event

“… can you tell us about your vision for the future culture of the Australian Public Service and what role future and emerging leaders may play in driving this country?” – Holly Noble, IPAA Future Leaders Group

The Prime Minister’s response: collaboration.

An examination of APS culture forms part of the review’s terms of reference and collaboration is a theme that has rung true throughout the review’s engagement. Senior APS leaders identified collaboration as a challenge and an enabler of the change required of the APS. The panel’s interim report, Priorities for Change, talks about how to make collaboration the norm — achieved through a trusted APS, united in serving all Australians.

Read about collaboration in the interim report