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APS Review 1 Oct 2018
We’ve heard how important it is to engage in meaningful, not “tick the box” consultation, with genuine opportunities for other sectors to help inform, design or even deliver public policy.
In this conversation thread we are looking at the Australian Public Service’s relationships with non-government organisations including business, academia and not-for-profits.
- How could we encourage and/or incentivise more genuine co-design and collaboration with other sectors?
- Are there particular issues that would benefit from this kind of collaboration?
We’ve heard that, from the outside, the Australian Public Service can be a confusing organisation and difficult to navigate.
- How should we make it clearer and easier for people and organisations to approach and engage the Australian Public Service?
We’ve heard support for more movement of people between the Australian Public Service and other sectors. This can help diffuse new ideas and experience within the Australian Public Service.
- How could we enable more people to move between the Australian Public Service and business, academia and the not-for profit sector?
What does a trusting and respectful partnership between civil society and the Australian Public Service look like? What do all parties need to bring to the table? Tell us what you think!
John Thompson 13 Mar 2019
A small, but I think important point. The term "public servant" is both noble and quaint and, unfortunately, has acquired a disrespectful overlay. In my view, public service is more important than "private service" but I'm not sure that the community sees it that way. The term "servant" is anachronistic and does not reflect the high standard of the work done in much of the public sector. Indeed, there are probably far more working as "servants" in the private sector. Think of how many jokes or disparaging comments are made by referring to "public servants". Words matter and I think that we need to develop a term for those people who work in the public sector, a term that changes the status or perception of those workers and the public service as a whole. I do not have a suggestion for a replacement of the term "public servant".
Melanie Fisher 4 Feb 2019
As well as communicating the importance of co-design etc, one small, practical initiative that could be easily implemented is a Secretaries Board call for ideas directly from staff for co-design and/or collaboration experiments.
The experiments selected by the Board could then each be sponsored by a Secretary with relevant training, support and resources provided to assist the 'experimenters' in achieving their intended goals. Effective co-design/collaboration requires the thoughtful use of approaches and tools so supporting staff in designing their approach and training them in useing relevant tools is important.
This type of initiative would signal (and model) that novel approaches are valued, and that staff at any level are encouraged to have ideas and may get opportunities to trial them. In addition this would provide the staff involved with not just a motivating and rewarding opportunity, but also training in co-design and collaboration tools and approaches. The diffusion or ripple effects would spread the benefits beyond those staff
The criteria should be broad to encourage imaginative thinking and allow for suggestions ranging from the small and local to the large and strategic. The application requirements should be as simple as possible - ie no more than 1/2 page for the concept and no more than 1 page in total.
Calling for suggestions directly from individual APS staff and teams (regardless of level) is important to avoid any risk adverse winnowing or requiring the involvement of more senior staff - and it also signals a One APS approach. Secretaries have the experience to assess the riskiness of a project and should have the leadership skills to take a mentoring rather than a directive role with the teams they mentor.
Chris 7 Jan 2019
Why would this be a good thing? Many work in the public service having worked in other non government jobs. A public servant works for the good of the Commonwealth. I am not sure allowing oneself to be influence by other agendas which are self serving in the name of unthinking inclusiveness is a good thing.
Kate Ross 31 Dec 2018
I would like to see the ability for employees of the APS to be able to be more flexiable in creating local initaitives with their local communities. For example as a Social Worker being able to partner with local welfare agencies to be able to contribute to community development inititatives which could be guided by the El staff in the local areas.
A more proactive 'sharing of information' procedures.
Evelyn 29 Nov 2018
It is crucial for the APS to have a real understanding of how other organisations work to build a better understanding of how it all fits into providing tailored service. This in my opinion can be done through secondments. The ATO offers such options at the corporate level but movement is to limited government organisation. It will be worth having a broader selections for example being seconded to tax practices to better understand the day to day issues faced by tax agent or a small business to understand how they operate. I found that at the corporate opportunities and flexibility are appear to be available. Things are a lot more restricted at the business line level. There has to be a collective APS cohesiveness if we really do want to move forward in building a Civil society. In pen and paper we appear to always get it right.
Dominic Gannon 29 Nov 2018
Q: Encourage and/or incentivise more genuine co-design and collaboration with other sectors? A: Remove the risks of bribery, personal gain & interference. Example: A Minister with investments in large Real Estate Companies or assets shouldn’t be involved in developing policy around Property, Real Estate or Public Land Sales. Co-Design should involve Australian Companies/Small Businesses with 10 years’ proven experience implementing solutions in their field of expertise
Q: Are there any particular issues that would benefit?
Yes, one example is Public Servants deciding to sell off Australia’s Assets without asking 25 Million Australians if it is OK. Public Servants must believe they have more rights to Commonwealth Property than any other Australian to do this. If Private Citizens aren’t allowed to sell a Commonwealth Asset, either should APS. If assets aren’t worthwhile and don’t earn revenue, why do Public Servants own Investment properties (assets)?. APS are selling off Australia’s assets to foreign owners and reducing our revenue streams, leaving us with only Coal, Duties and Taxes. In 30 years, Australia will have no revenue.
Q: Making it clearer and easier to engage with APS? A: a public funded online registrar Portal (where Australian Companies can register their details in a database) would help connect Policy makers with real expertise in the required areas. Australian Companies could also collaborate as a Group to submit or provide solutions, information on solutions, or recommendations Policy makers can choose from.
What does a trusting & respectful partnership look like? Anyone who has experienced this would know Trustful and Respectful partnerships require empathy, Communication, Transparency and mutual respect from both sides to achieve good outcomes
Andrew Livermore 28 Nov 2018
What does a trusting and respectful partnership between civil society and the Australian Public Service look like:
There's no trust between civil society when reports of misconduct in the public service are reported to department heads then handed back to the public servant reported and dismissed.
Accountability in the public service is non existent when it's reported from civil society.
Renee 27 Nov 2018
How could we enable more people to move between the Australian Public Service and business, academia and the not-for profit sector?
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All agencies should have a liaison/engagement function when sees individuals do the work of the agencies within the organisations of other key stakeholders (see the Lowy Institute fellowship for a demo of how this could work).
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there is significant benefit for public servants to leave the confines of the agency walls and get out into the community they serve, learn more about key stakeholders and understand the impacts of their agencies work. This not only fosters collaboration (because it builds connection and interdependency) but it also makes for better policy outcomes.
Renee 27 Nov 2018
How could we encourage and/or incentivise more genuine co-design and collaboration with other sectors?
- tie the requirement of this to funding and incentivise the building of this capability within agencies.
- NPPs need to demonstrate they have effectively engaged the target of the policy in its design and how it will continue to do so throughout implementation.
- NPPs should be needs driven based on the needs which are not being addressed.
Are there particular issues that would benefit from this kind of collaboration?
- Matters affecting veterans, disability sector, women and indigenous policy
Dr Martin Dunn 26 Nov 2018
The term "secondment" usually comes with the implication that the role is about development (of the individual) or skills transfer (between the organisations). Typically, the secondee is working for the new organisation and not formally there to provide better communications between the two. I think the concept you are looking for is the "liaison officer".
Of course, whether a secondee or a liaison officer will help depends on the circumstances.
Peter Manning 23 Nov 2018
Engage anthropologists to define community groups and appropriate representatives similar to what is done in native title claims.
Do not leave it to the community to self-select.
Consult with (LISTEN) to those groups and incorporate their feedback into policy and implementation.
And consult with civil society on how to make it easier to engage with the APS. Consult with society on everything!
I like all the posts so far, in particular Joan ten Brummelaar's statement 'Ongoing feedback on reasons why decisions are made go a long way to developing trusting relationships.' Being more open and transparent means explaining why we made certain unpalatable (to some) decisions.
Joan ten Brummelaar 16 Nov 2018
Trust in someone or in an organisation to me means accepting the advice or answer to a question even when you don't like the information being presented because you understand the reasoning.
For the public service to be a trusted organisation it will need to be able to recognise that it will never make everyone happy and that no matter how much consultation occurs results will not satisfy everyone.
To be trusted, resources need to be available and deployed to honestly lay out the decision making process, be prepared to defend outcomes where there are "losers" or opposing views and be able to explain why decisions, regulations, or processes have been chosen.
Ongoing feedback on reasons why decisions are made go a long way to developing trusting relationships.
The public service can definitely get better at making it easier for people to engage, but it should also be recognised that with literally millions of services and clients and interactions between policies not to mention interactions between different jurisdictions and organisations it is unrealistic to think that we will ever reach a place where the feedback is going to be " it was really easy to get the answer/service/information I needed". How easy is it to get a similar service from other organisations that have a much smaller number of services eg trying to get information from an insurance company or trying to get the best advice from a travel agency?
Most people I know are prepared to accept complexity when the systems in place to deal with them try hard to explain why something they thought was simple is more complicated than they thought. Openness about this will also build trust.
Warwick 15 Nov 2018
The Anglicare submission is excellent, both in identifying the problems and suggesting solutions. It's hard to change the politicisation of the APS if the heads of departments are political appointments, and the culture of prioritising 'protecting the minister's reputation' flows down from there. We need to look at the selection processes for heads of department, and make sure there is a decent and apolitical process.
It's embarrassing to watch public servants at senate estimates sometimes trying to provide deliberately obscure answers – in essence, behaving like politicians rather than public servants.
I've had it firmly expressed to me from management that as the minister is the public's representative, public servants are serving the minister (and in essence don't need to worry about anyone else), and by serving the minister we can be sure (due to our democratic process) that we're also serving the public. Is this the right way to think about it?
Sandra Maher 12 Nov 2018
It would be helpful if there was a mechanism within partner services to have APS staff working within their office (intermittently/adhoc/ regularly) depending on the level of connection with that partner service so that staff have an understanding of that connectedness and how the other organisation operates. The cross over of staff should be 2 way as much as possible. It may then help when making policies if those staff have an input into decision and policy making, that relate to the shared function, as this may help to implement them more smoothly, understand them and fit them together better. This would also help build the strength of the partnership.
Kathryn Cole 12 Nov 2018
In my experience limited timeframes with political implications inhibit good co-design. Carving out space for optimal timeframes to explore issues but enough flexibility to ensure high-quality outcomes would encourage more genuine co-design and collaboration. Certainly the more complex an issue is (wicked problem, intangible benefit, long time to benefits realisation) the more the issue would benefit from this approach. Political implications are another matter.
I think you have to ask 'civil society' how to make it easier to engage with the APS - once you are in here it is hard to imagine the difficulties.
If you can set up one to two year (or more) secondments between sectors I think it would certainly be more attractive to public servants to move between and swap jobs in/out. We have deliberately and successfully designed a great EVP to attract bright and capable people to the APS. Once employed in the APS people are not inclined to give up their position and its EVP, particularly when security is a big factor. If secondments are not the answer then target APS cohorts where security is possibly less important - early career, late career perhaps?
Ken Dobinson 12 Nov 2018
Collaboration - Approach community well in advance of decision making on a proposed change. But select community representatives as representative of community not noisy activist groups
Particular Issues - major changes in legislation and major infrastructure projects
Approach and engage APS - have direct contacts available with authority to give decisions. The trend to 'One stop shops' has moved away from this arrangement to the detriment of community faith and trust in public sector. This of curse means pushing authority down to the grass roots level as it should be and officers making decisions and accepting the risk in doing so. This also means accepting that mistakes will be made and measuring performance against those mistakes not treating as gospel - it also means admitting to mistakes and correcting them ASAP after they occur. From experience in 90% of cases the opportunity occurs to correct a mistake before it becomes serious - the secret is to admit it immediately the mistake becomes apparent. .
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