Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Public Service is one of Australia's biggest employers. It has careers to suit just about anyone at all stages of life, from school leavers and graduates looking to start in the workforce through to senior executives and professionals who shape the future of Australia. The APS is governed by a legislative framework that includes the Public Service Act 1999, the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct. This framework and its policies set the standards and obligations for conduct, performance and behaviour of APS employees and agencies and the APS as a whole. It helps them identify and manage risks, make ethical decisions, and work with integrity, which in turn helps to maintain public trust in APS agencies and its employees.

The Albanese Labor government is taking the next steps in rebuilding the Australian Public Service by introducing a bill to amend the Public Service Act 1999. This bill and the Albanese Labor government's broader APS reform agenda are about restoring the public's trust and faith in government and its institutions. The Public Service Amendment Bill 2023 will strengthen the APS core purpose and values, build the capacity and expertise of the APS, and support good governance, accountability and transparency. The bill will: add a new APS value of stewardship; require an APS purpose statement; make it clear that ministers cannot direct agency heads on employment matters; encourage decision-making at the lowest appropriate level; make regular capability reviews a requirement; require annual APS employee census results to be published along with an action plan responding to the results; and establish at least one long-term insight briefing each year. Many of the proposed changes align with recommendations from the 2019 Thodey review. Since the Thodey review was released, Australia has faced a COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical and economic disruption, and we have gained new insight on integrity issues affecting the Public Service. The bill advances the Albanese Labor government's APS reform agenda, which is designed to address the challenges facing the APS now and into the future. It will amend the Public Service Act 1999 to deliver enduring transformational change and ensure the APS is well placed to serve the Australian government, the parliament and the Australian public into the future.

To strengthen the APS core purpose and values, the bill will add a new APS value of stewardship that all APS employees must uphold. Stewardship will be defined as the APS builds its capability and institutional knowledge, and will support the public interest now and into the future by understanding the long-term impacts of what it does. The bill will require the Secretaries Board to oversee the development of a single, unifying APS purpose statement, and review it once every five years. All agency heads will be required to uphold and promote the new APS purpose statement in addition to the APS Values and APS Employment Principles. The bill will clarify and strengthen provisions in the act to make it clear that ministers cannot direct the agency heads on individual APS staffing decisions. This will reaffirm the APS's apolitical nature.

To build the capability and expertise of the APS, the bill will make regular, independent and transparent capability reviews a five-yearly requirement. Capability reviews will assess organisational strengths and areas for development, with reports and action plans responding to findings required to be publicly released. It will require the Secretaries Board to commission regular long-term insight reports to explore medium-term and long-term trends, risks and opportunities facing Australia. These reports will ensure the APS can build trust in its expertise and an understanding of cross-cutting issues that matter to all Australians.

To support good governance, accountability and transparency, the bill will require publication of agencies' APS employee census results and an action plan that responds to results. This will foster a culture of transparency and accountability for continuous improvement within agencies. It will require agency heads to implement measures to enable decisions to be made by employees at the lowest appropriate classification for these decisions. This will ensure decision-making is not raised to a higher level than is necessary, reducing unnecessary hierarchy and empowering APS employees.

Many of the proposed amendments were recommendations of the 2019 independent review of the Australian Public Service, the Thodey review, or go to its intent. Specifically, it speaks to recommendation 5, which, as the explanatory memorandum says:

… called for the core principles and APS Values to be strengthened, by reaffirming the important and enduring role that all APS employees play in serving successive Governments, the Parliament and the Australian public.

Recommendation 6 was to:

… develop and embed an inspiring purpose and vision to unite the APS in serving the nation.

Recommendation 32:

… called for the APS to adopt best-practice ways of working and improving decision-making, by ensuring Agency Heads empower APS employees to make decisions appropriate to their classification.

Recommendation 2a:

… called for regular, future-focused capability reviews to build organisational capacity and accountability, by establishing the power for the Commissioner to cause a capability review …

The review also called for the need to:

… strike a better balance between short-term responsiveness and investing in the deep expertise required to grapple with long-term, strategic policy challenges.

Recommendation 2b, 'fostering a culture of transparency and accountability for continuous improvement within agencies', is being addressed through the publication of the APS employee census results.

Other amendments have drawn on observations about public administration from governments at the state level or from overseas. The government will continue to consider and progress the recommendations of the Thodey review as part of its ongoing APS reform agenda.

We all have something to contribute to ensure enduring reform. In particular, I would like to highlight the Western Australian government's Future enabled: a strategic narrative of professionalism, purpose and pride in the Western Australian public sector. This narrative recognises the need for the public sector to not only be consistent and reliable but also be innovative, transformative and adaptable to meet new and rising challenges. Likewise, the WA government's Agency Capability Review program drives excellence and continuous improvement in the public sector. These reviews provide the agency with a clear understanding of its current capabilities including both strengths and areas for improvement.

What I would like to leave you all with is this: reforming such a large and complex organisation takes time and sustained effort, and we all have a very important role to play. This bill seeks to support the many public servants who work incredibly hard to provide the best service that they possibly can—in particular, the many who worked through the COVID pandemic and back-to-back natural disasters, who, as a result, have seen grief, distress, anxiety and upset. They have borne witness to people struggling with these challenges, who often think their challenges are insurmountable and who feel helpless.

We acknowledge the dedication and the commitment of all those who work in the Australian Public Service. They deserve an agile and responsive system, one that will enable them to support others. They deserve a strong, robust framework of support as they continue to work in our cities, in our towns and in our regions right around Australia. It is on this basis that I commend the bill to the House.

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