ANU Crawford School of Public Policy

ANU Crawford School of Public Policy

Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

November 2018

For further information about this submission please contact:
Dr Robert Styles

Advisor International Development

ANU Crawford School of Public Policy

JG Crawford Building 132, Lennox Crossing

The Australian National University

Canberra ACT 2601

E: Robert.Styles@anu.edu.au
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy 2

Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

ANU Crawford School of Public Policy

Crawford School of Public Policy is housed within the College of Asia and the Pacific (CAP),
Australian National University (ANU). CAP leads intellectual engagement with the Asia-
Pacific region through research, teaching and contributions to public debate, and seeks to

set the international standard for scholarship concerning the region.

The Crawford School’s approach to public policy draws upon disciplinary excellence in the

core areas of economics, government, environment and development, and also deep

geographical knowledge of Asia and the Pacific, including Australia. Some of the region’s

most important researchers and many staff within the School are active on government

committees and in key advisory roles across government, business and civil society.
Students at the School are valued members of the region’s leading public policy community

and contribute actively to the impact being made on the world’s challenges surrounding

such issues as water, food, energy, economic development, the environment, and

governance.

Executive Summary

The ongoing work of being future ready is adaptive by nature and requires real-time,
flexible, collaborative and deliberative responses to prevailing situations in relation to likely

future scenarios. Governments, higher education institutions, business and civil society

across Australia, Asia and the Pacific will need to work together in response to local and

regional security issues, particularly water, food, energy, health, economic, environmental,
indigenous and bilateral. Effective responses, we expect, will be taken by groups of

stakeholders sharing a common purpose who have the necessary legitimacy and support to

prototype and strategically implement innovations. For this to occur the APS will have to

reinforce the practice or strategic public sector leadership and cultivate a broader

organisational climate that embodies an appetite for risk and learning. Processes such as

Strategic Roadmapping; instituting particularised forms of Polycentric Governance; and,
cultivating Moral Self-Determination will need to be implemented to reinforce the transfer

and evolution of successful learning and practice into the system. In this context higher

education will best serve by providing world class advice too and partnering with key people

to help them strategically implement good governance, regulatory frameworks, policy

evaluation, public policy, applied economics, public administration, environmental

management and technical solutions with measured impact. Learning and development will

need to be directed toward the real time capacity building requirements integral to the

adaptive responses being taken. Multi-disciplinary, multi-player, strategically driven action

research and innovation will need to become business-as-usual within ‘One future ready

APS’.
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy 3

Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Detailed Response

As the review has already identified, the capability and strength of today’s APS rests on a

suite of characteristics that should be preserved and conserved as the institution orients

toward becoming ‘One future ready APS’. Underpinned by its values, the APS culture,
qualities of its workforce, skills and knowledge of the public servants and reputation of the

Service form the platform for future development. The approach we recommend builds on

this platform with a focus on motivating and purposing this intrinsic good through enabling

environments where it is safe to experiment, try new things and strategically innovate.
While strategic leadership, collaboration and innovation have been key recommendations to

governments in Australia and overseas over recent years1 we suggest a more pragmatic

approach is required.

Depending on the issue being addressed, a pragmatic response would require

representatives from government, higher education, business and civil society to proactively

redesign their interactions and engineer their pursuits in line with a shared sense of higher-
order purpose. Building the capacity of the system to do this with greater effect would,
amongst other things, encompass three broad processes that in our experience are ideally

facilitated through the workplace: taking perspective on a preferred and probable future

and rendering long-term Strategic Roadmaps; aligning the many centres of decision making

by instituting particularised forms of Polycentric Governance; and, cultivating a High

Performing Mind and the capacity for Moral Self-Determination of those involved.

Over the last six years the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy has been refining this multi-
disciplinary approach with good effect. Australian Public Service Employee Census data
(Commission 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018) captured pre and post several interventions within

the Australian Public Sector showed a significant, positive and sustained improvement along

several dimensions, including: Employee Engagement; Inclusion & Diversity; Wellbeing;
Leadership; Workplace Culture; Workplace Conditions; Performance Management;
Organisational Change; Innovation; Risk Management; APS Values & Code of Conduct; and,
Agency Specific Performance. These measures showed significant improvements when

compared with those baseline measures taken over previous years, with some measures

improving favourably by up to 25% and 28% (see Appendix). Learning in these contexts has

been by design. These three processes are inseparable and highly interdependent. We

suggest they are necessary capabilities for ‘One future ready APS’. Each is outlined below.

1

Cabinet Office, 2012. The Civil Service Reform Plan, London: HM Government.
Innovation and Science Australia, 2017. Australia 2030: prosperity through innovation, Canberra: Australian

Government.
Institute of Public Affairs, 2017. Executive Master of Public Policy, London: Civil Service Learning.
Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2010. Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government

Administration, Canberra: Government of Australia.
Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2012. Australia in the Asia Century, Canberra: Australian Government.
Sunningdale Institute, 2010. Beyond Light Bulbs and Pipelines: Leading and Nurturing Innovation in the public

Sector, UK: National School of Government.
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Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Necessary capabilities for ‘One future ready APS’

1. Taking perspective on a preferred and probable future - Strategic Roadmapping

Taking perspective on a preferred and probable future and rendering a Strategic Roadmap

focuses on mapping desired futures and strategically implementing a shared, consensual

vision for delivering on high impact opportunities and innovation, especially when facing

uncertainties or challenges in outlook. Developed by Cambridge University with the

Australian National University, it extends the practices of foresighting and scenario planning

to support strategic alignment and dialogue between the various sub-divisions within an

organisation and also between other organisations or key external stakeholders. Academic

involvement brings to these efforts the multi-disciplinary rigor and diversity required to

undertake an active inquiry into, and consideration of, what a preferred and probable future

could actually look like within the organisation and society in relation to the endeavours

being undertaken. The output is a much clearer understanding of the prevailing trends and

drivers in the system that will likely shape behaviour and organised effort and the mapping

of a consensual pathway or roadmap for the implementation of an agreed set of

strategically qualified opportunities. We believe for ‘One future ready APS’ to emerge a

Roadmapping Culture has to be cultivated.

2. Aligning the many centres of decision making – Polycentric Governance

Instituting forms of Polycentric Governance focuses on aligning the many centres of decision

making under an overarching set of functional norms, policies and procedures. Such formal

and informal regulatory environments tend to emerge as an evolutionary response to the

ordering of interactions defined by the Strategic Roadmap. Facilitating this, in our

experience, involves extending a framework borne out of the anthropological studies of

cooperative group behaviour for which Ruth Elinor-Ostrom was awarded a Nobel Prize in

Economics in 2009. This polycentric vision places at centre stage the individuals and forms

of self-governance and organisation that naturally result from their interactions as they

constitute themselves into mutually respectful and working relationships. Dialogue centres

on the application of eight principles for building and leading sustainable and equitable

organisations, groups and teams which are particularised and adapted into the public-sector

arena. Such normative contexts tend to be morally and ethically sound and typically persist

through time and prevail, even under conditions of seeming chaos. For ‘One future ready

APS’ to emerge, being able to cultivate such healthy normative and regulatory environments

that build and maintain trust and reciprocity will be a necessary prerequisite. Reinforcing

the suite of APS values and code of conduct would be integral to this work2.

3. Cultivating a High Performing Mind – Moral Self-Determination

Cultivating a High Performing Mind and the capacity for Moral Self-Determination involves

enhancing the ability of the leaders, managers and workers involved in civic endeavours to

discern what is important – a values proposition – and to persistently allocate attention to

that, which is essentially a real time here and now practice. The approach we recommend

harnesses the latest research advances from Contextual Behavioural Science taken at ANU

that provide an understanding of how language and cognition functions to direct covert and

overt behaviour. Individuals coached in this regard become increasingly aware of their inner

2
https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-values-1; https://www.apsc.gov.au/code-conduct
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Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service experience, particularly in challenging situations, and depending on what the situation

affords, persist with or change behaviour in line with chosen values. They are more able to

discern situations or choice points where they tend to adopt habitual and often defensive

responses to unpleasant experience and exercise moral self-determination in pursuit of

valued living. Cultivating such a high performing mind, we have observed, has a range of

important applications relevant to professional practice within the APS, including the

development of leadership attributes, enhancing performance, increasing mental flexibility

and improving physical and mental wellbeing. We see this as an essential aspect of building
‘One future ready APS’ that goes to the heart of the human dimension. To be successful

Public Servants at every level, particularly those in leadership, will be required to exercise

such psychological flexibility.

Learning by design to close the capability gaps

Looking forward we suggest the nature of learning at work across ‘One future ready APS’
will have to become bespoke by design and integrated with the responses being taken to

prevailing situations. Higher education institutions such as the ANU Crawford School of

Public Policy, the Melbourne School of Government, and the Institute of Governance and

Policy Analysis can partner with the APS and related stakeholders based on agreed system

wide priorities and participant developmental needs. Programs can be custom designed as

an integral part of the overall strategy specifically to close the capability gaps across the

system, be they hard or soft. Such adaptable learning models could be a blend of current

best practice such as the those flowing from the UK Civil Service Reform Plan 2012 or

conceived fresh as a suite of action learning phases that flexibly integrate into life-at-work.
Innovation will be required on behalf of the education sector on this front.

What the Crawford School can do…
As mentioned, the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy works with government, business

and civil society across Australia, Asia and the Pacific to address local and regional security

issues. We do this by providing world class advise and strategically partnering with key

people to design and implement solutions with long-term impact. In each instance,
depending on stated objectives the faculty involved has engaged subject matter expertise to

enhance the realisation of desired impact. From alumni and professional networks, we

deploy leading academics and professionals from fields ranging from, for example, public

policy, economics, government, law, business planning, organisational performance,
engineering, psychology, gender equity and health to support the leaning objectives of any

particular endeavour. We suggest that such multi-disciplinary approaches will have to

become the norm in ‘One future ready APS’. It is going to become increasing important that

all players across the sector with a stake in the future cultivate the ability to think

strategically about future changing contexts and contribute academically and professionally

to establishing the necessary ongoing cooperative and productive cultures capable of

bringing about desired change. This, we suggest, has to be learned.

Accessing professional learning from within the APS

In addition to integrated professional development designed to strategically close APS

capability gaps, individual learning opportunities and credentialing are important. To this

end, the work of the APS Review should consider and recognise the existing best-practice
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy 6

Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service capability enhancement models throughout the Australian Government. These provide the

essential ‘macro’ structure that sets out the organisational ways in which particular

departments and agencies aim to grow and enhance their intellectual capital. Equally

essential – and often overlooked in current arrangements – is a ‘micro’ structure aimed at

the individual to ensure s/he accesses and engages the broader macro professional learning

structure. Evidence suggests there are 3 key elements that should feature in the micro

structures to support increase of intellectual capital for the APS:

1) Incentives: opportunities for professional learning must have incentives for
individual staff to access these and should align with the broader macro learning
structure. Incentives could take the form of funding for professional learning. The
StudyBank annual amounts of up to $2,000 across most of the APS are now well out
of step with reality in which 1 course at a respective tertiary institution is at least
$2,500 and ideally APS employees would be studying more than 1 course as part of a
degree program pa. Incentives to pursue professional learning should also include
realistic study leave arrangements to support face to face and online professional
learning at recognised educational institutions.
2) Microcredentials: by 2030, ever-increasing demands brought by portfolio careers,
increased changes to jobs and the usual family/work pressures will mean that the
appetite for learning modules that can be parked and used at a later date towards
further learning programs will be critical. Microcredentials provide exciting
opportunities for the APS to upskill and incentivise professional learning.
Microcredentials can provide learners with access to shorter learning experiences
such as executive education and could then potentially be recognised towards higher
degree programs. Crawford School would be willing to develop and offer pilot
programs in microcredentials working in partnership with other recognised
Australian universities.
3) Microlearning: opportunities for APS employees to engage in micro-learning will be
important in the micro-structure to breathe life into the broader macro capability
structure. Microlearning is cost effective and an efficient path to learning on the job:
these are chunks of learning time that effectively bring together those with the skills
and those who seek the skills: in online and face to face arrangements.

A combination of these 3 elements will see the APS strengthen and increase its intellectual

capital in the coming decade.
Appendix

Results showing significant and sustained change in workplace culture and performance

within two Australian government organisations

Below are graphical representations of the measured long-term impact of two Strategic

Public Sector Leadership interventions led by Ms Daryl Karp, CEO, Museum of Australian

Democracy (MoAD) and Ms Stacie Hall, First Assistant Secretary, Property & Construction

Division (PCD), Department of Finance. These initiatives were facilitated in partnership with

Dr Robert Styles, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. The MoAD

intervention took place in 2014-15 and the PCD intervention took place in 2016-17. Both

involved developing a long-term strategy and instituting particularised forms of polycentric

governance and prosocial approaches in achieving a range of defined opportunities.

In both cases, Australian Public Service Employee Census data (Commission 2014, 2015,
2017, 2018) captured pre and post each intervention showed a significant, positive and

sustained improvement along several dimensions, including: Employee Engagement;
Inclusion & Diversity; Wellbeing; Leadership; Workplace Culture; Workplace Conditions;
Performance Management; Organisational Change; Innovation; Risk Management; APS

Values & Code of Conduct; and, Agency Specific Performance. In both instances, these

measures showed significant improvements when compared with those baseline measures

taken over previous years, with some measures improving favourably by up to 25% and

28%. See Figures 1 to 6 below.
Appendix: Results showing significant sustained change in workplace culture & performance 8

Figure 1. Measures identified in MoAD’s APSC 2014-15 Employee Census Report (Commission 2014, 2015) as having significantly improved

compared to the Agency’s measures from the previous year.
Appendix: Results showing significant sustained change in workplace culture & 9

performance

Figure 2. Reported percentage improvements (Commission 2014, 2015) in MoAD’s 2014

performance measures (red bars) compared with 2015 performance measures (blue bars).
Appendix: Results showing significant sustained change in workplace culture & 10

performance

Figure 3. Reported percentage improvements (Commission 2014, 2015, 2017) in MoAD’s

2014 performance measures (red bars) compared with 2015 performance measures (blue

bars) and 2017 performance measures (green bars) showing sustained change.
Appendix: Results showing significant sustained change in workplace culture & performance 11

Figure 4. Measures identified in the PCD’s 2017 Employee Census Report (Commission 2017) as having significantly improved compared to the

Division’s measures from the previous year.
Appendix: Results showing significant sustained change in workplace culture & 12

performance

Figure 5. Reported percentage improvements (Commission 2017) in PCD’s 2016

performance measures (red bars) compared with 2017 performance measures (blue bars).
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy 13

Submission to Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Figure 6. Reported percentage improvements (Commission 2017, 2018) in PCD’s 2016

performance measures (red bars) compared with 2017 performance measures (blue bars)
and 2018 performance measures (green bars) showing sustained change.