Output 2: Leadership, learning and development services

Output 2.1: Service delivery

Output component 2.1.1: Promote effective leadership in the APS

This element of Output 2.1 comprises investment by the Commission in the infrastructure required to support leadership and leadership development in the APS. It includes research into leadership capabilities and skills and the development of effective programs and activities to build these capabilities and skills. It also includes the building of capacity to deliver more effective leadership programs and activities, and the promotion of the importance and relevance of leadership and leadership development.

Integrated Leadership System

The PS Act requires the Public Service Commissioner to foster leadership and coordinate APS-wide training and career development. The Senior Executive Leadership Capability Framework (SELC Framework), introduced in 1999, defines the leadership capabilities required for SES appointments, and accordingly guides the Commission and the APS on appropriate leadership and career development.

Since the introduction of the PS Act and the SELC Framework, the Commission has undertaken significant work in the area of APSwide leadership development. This includes partnering with a number of APS agencies to develop and deliver the Career Development Assessment Centre to assess the development needs of high performing EL2s, the introduction of the EL Series of development programs and reinforcing the Senior Executive Leadership Capabilities through other Commission and agency activities.

The Management Advisory Committee Report 3–Organisational Renewal highlighted the importance of succession management in the APS over the next 5—10 years in particular. It has provided an additional spur for the Commission to build on the work done to develop and implement the SELC Framework, to clarify pathways to leadership and to identify practical tools for individuals and agencies to build relevant capabilities and skills for more senior appointments.

In the 2003—04 Additional Estimates, additional funding was provided to invest in extending and refreshing the Commission’s leadership development strategies. The Integrated Leadership System is the first product of this investment, providing more detailed descriptions of capabilities and desired behaviours for Executive Level 1 through to SES Band 3, as well as tools for both agencies and individuals to use in their leadership development.

The first phase in developing the system was completed during 2003—04. This phase comprised extensive research and collaboration to design a broader framework for executive and senior executive development within which the SELC Framework continues to play a major part.

This framework, or Integrated Leadership System (ILS), identifies:

• how the leadership capabilities required at different levels shift, thereby providing guidance for development priorities at different levels
• the mix of leadership capabilities, management skills and professional/technical skills and how that mix shifts with changes in levels of responsibility
• the changing complexity of roles at different levels, as time horizons lengthen and the breadth of contact, impact and responsibilities widens. See Figure 3.

The ILS is highly adaptable to the particular requirements of different agencies, while also clarifying the particular value-adding role the Commission can play. The importance of some common approaches and shared development activity across the APS also picks up a key theme from the Management Advisory Committee Report 4–Connecting Government, released in April 2004.

The ILS has guides and tools to support professional development, career planning and agency bench strength or succession management.

The ILS will be used to refresh the Commission’s learning and development programs and provide the basis for developing some new programs in meeting the contemporary and emerging needs of agencies.

The next step will involve bilateral discussions with agencies to clarify their individual requirements where APS Commission programs and collaboration activities might best complement internal agency efforts.

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FIGURE 3: APS leadership model showing relationship between complexity and classification

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The Commission is now developing and piloting executive and senior executive development programs based on the ILS. The first of these will include a new ‘transition’ program to develop capabilities as executives are promoted from one level to the next, and orientation programs to assist those coming into the APS for the first time at an executive or senior executive level.

Australia and New Zealand School of Government

ANZSOG is a first-tier professional school established collaboratively by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand Governments, universities and business schools, to provide world-class education and development to emerging public sector leaders. The Commonwealth became a member of ANZSOG in September 2002, and is represented on the Foundation Board by the Public Service Commissioner.

The Commonwealth’s commitment to the School reflects the importance the Government places on ensuring a smart, responsive public sector with effective leadership and the capacity to meet future challenges. The Commission, in consultation with other agencies, has been actively involved in the development of ANZSOG to ensure the School meets the needs of the Australian Public Service and provides value for money.

In 2003—04, the School offered two programs. The Executive Master in Public Administration Program is a two-year part-time program targeted at high-performing Executive Level 2 staff. The Executive Fellows Program is targeted at SES Band 3 and high-performing Band 2 staff in a three-week residential program and brings together eminent public administration practitioners and academics mixing theory, case studies and challenging exercises.

Twenty four Commonwealth public servants commenced the Executive Masters Program in February 2004, the second intake for this program since the School commenced operations. It is expected that twenty Commonwealth public servants at the SES Band 3 and high-performing SES Band 2 levels will participate in the second Executive Fellows Program in October 2004.

The Commonwealth, through the Commission, committed to participate in ANZSOG programs for its first three years of operation, and the Commission works with agencies to ensure commitments are met.

The School’s research program will make a considerable contribution to the study of public administration and management in Australia. The School’s research priorities are co-ordinated by the ANZSOG Research Committee on which the Commissioner represents the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is providing ANZSOG with $200,000 per year for three years, matched by the Australian National University (ANU), to establish a strong and relevant research program focused on the ANU in collaboration with participating institutions. Professor John Wanna has been appointed as the inaugural John Bunting Professor of Public Administration.

The Commonwealth funding has also established an Executive Officer position for ANZSOG Research to assist in developing research activities. Under the funding arrangements with ANZSOG and the ANU there is a commitment to facilitate regular ANZSOG seminars/ workshops, to sponsor PhD students, and to develop and maintain an ANZSOG research website and publish a regular newsletter.

ANZSOG conducted a Future Research Agenda Workshop in February 2004 for the annual ANZSOG Australia and New Zealand public administration workshop. The Commissioner gave a presentation on APS research priorities which were informed by discussions between the Commissioner and the APS Research Advisory Committee. This committee consists of a group of senior executives nominated by their agencies to assist the Commissioner with prioritising APS research interests.

The Commission will continue to assist ANZSOG develop a strong research function in 2004—05, and maintain strong relations between the APS and the School. It is anticipated that ANZSOG and its APS industry partners will pursue opportunities to undertake research programs of importance to the academic community and the APS, and that have been identified as national research priorities.

Promotion of leadership outside the ACT

Leadership has also been a prime focus of the Commission in the regions in 2003—04. The Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner visited all States and Territories during the year. Also a number of Agency Heads have spoken at leadership conferences in the regions to provide briefings and updates on important issues and developments across the public sector.

The leadership theme was particularly evident at the annual conferences of agency regional directors held in 2003—04 with the then Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, the Hon. Tony Abbot MP, speaking at the Melbourne conference. He also visited Perth in 2003—04 to speak on The State of the Australian Public Service at an Executive Breakfast seminar. Briefings by Agency Heads included the Secretary, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Dr Peter Shergold) speaking at a Queensland ExecNet seminar and at an executive seminar in Perth. The Merit Protection Commissioner visited Melbourne for the annual leadership conference and Perth to launch ‘Embedding the APS Values’ to agency regional directors and other senior staff.

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TABLE 11: Performance information–Output Component 2.1.1

Target	Result
Quantity Percentage of APS agencies engaged through at least one scheduled event, activity or network focused on promoting leadership in the APS. Target is 75%.	Exceeded target–97% of APS agencies were engaged through the development and promotion of the Integrated Leadership System alone. • 272 individuals provided input to the consultations to develop the Leadership Capability Development Pathway (the Pathway). These individuals represents 60% of APS agencies. • 1899 individuals were invited to provide feedback to the first draft of the Pathway. These individuals represented 100% of agencies. • The exposure draft of the Pathway practitioners resource was provided to 320 individual representing 97% of agencies.
Quality 75% of APS agencies in annual client service survey agree that the APSC provides: • clarity of information • accessible means of support • timely responses to queries • current and useful information • effective transfer of knowledge to others.	Exceeded target–this performance indicator was tested via an externally conducted client service telephone survey of APS Agencies on the APS Commission’s promotion of effective leadership. The quality target achieved was well above the set level. • 92% of APS agencies surveyed rated providing clear information as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. • 84% rated providing easy access to the Commission’s staff to support an agency’s involvement in initiatives promoting leadership as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. • 79% rated responding to the agency’s queries in a timely manner as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. • 87% rated the Commission’s assistance in promoting and developing leadership within the agency as ‘moderate’ to ‘very high’ (48% rated this as ‘high’ or ‘very high’).

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Output component 2.1.2: Provide Service-wide leadership development and other learning development services

The Commission offers leadership, learning and development opportunities across the APS and in all states and territories. A particular area of focus for the Commission is development for Senior Executive Service (SES) employees, but learning and development services are also provided for Executive Level (EL) employees, APS 1—6 employees and graduate trainees.

The Commission also supported agencies to meet their specific development needs through the Commission’s Consultancy Services Team.

The Commission’s learning and development programs continue to receive very favourable ratings for their quality and content with over 90% of responding participants giving a ‘very high’ rating against the key performance criteria of ‘meeting objectives’, ‘program content’ and ‘quality of presenter’.

SES programs

The Commission has a specific focus on developing leadership capabilities of senior executives and their feeder group. In 2003—04, 32 programs were provided for 1271 SES participants. Details of these programs are included in Table 45 at Appendix F.

In 2003—04, in preparation for the realignment to the ILS, the Commission reviewed its suite of development programs for the SES, primarily removing programs that were consistently receiving a low uptake. This included the withdrawal of programs such as Sustaining the Leadership Contribution. Although it received very positive feedback from participants, this program did not achieve a sustainable level of uptake over the last two years. As a result, the program scheduled for November in 2003 was cancelled. A decision was also taken not to schedule any additional iterations of the Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) in preparation for the introduction of the new leadership programs aligned with the ILS.

New and revised programs and activities targeting leadership capability development will also be developed on the basis of the ILS.

SES orientation

The Orientation to the Senior Executive Service program continued to be well supported by participants. It is regarded as the most effective method of preparing newly promoted and recruited senior executives to face the challenges of their new role as members of the leadership cadre of the APS. It outlines their statutory responsibilities towards the APS as a whole, as well as those in their own agencies.

Seven iterations of this program were delivered in 2003—04 with 110 senior executives in attendance (See Table 12). Of this year’s participants 87% attended within their first year of service in the SES, 12% within their second year and 1% within their third year.

While this year’s attendance rate represents a slight increase in the proportion of people engaged or promoted into the SES participating in the program, the Commission believes the aim should be for all new SES members to participate in such development with their peers.

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TABLE 12: SES engagements, promotions and attendance at orientation from 2001—04

Year	SES engagement and promotions*	SES Orientation attendance
2001—02	202	94
2002—03	206	104
2003—04	170	110
Totals	578	308

* Includes all promotions into the SES (but not within the SES) and all engagements into the SES (including into Band 2 and Band 3 promotions)

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Expertise development programs

Public Servants’ Accountability, Rights and Responsibilities seminars continue to play an important role in ensuring senior executives understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to parliamentary processes, the legislative framework and principles, and the relationship between the APS and the Parliament. One iteration was held in 2003—04.

Building on the Public Servants’ Accountability, Rights and Responsibilities program, Preparing to Appear before Parliamentary Committees offers participants the opportunity to develop an understanding of the experience of appearing before a parliamentary committee. Two iterations of this program were run in 2003—04. Participant feedback attested to the value of the program.

Seminar series

During 2003—04 the SES Seminar Series continued to attract high levels of participation. Breakfast Briefings, Lunchtime Seminars and Snapshots provided senior executives with the opportunity to hear high quality speakers on current and emerging issues relevant to the APS and to build their networks across the Service.

In 2003—04 eight SES Breakfast Briefings were held with a total of 582 participants. Speakers included Dr Fiona Stanley, Dr Peter Shergold, Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon, Senator Philip Ruddock and Professor Julian Disney. Details of Breakfast Briefing topics are in Table 46 at Appendix F.

Lunchtime seminars were also well attended with 240 participants. Lunchtime seminar speakers included the Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson and Mr Tom Schieffer, US Ambassador to Australia.

Band 3 and Band 2 forums also provided opportunities for senior executives to hear specialists and to network with their peers. In 2003—04 three Band 3 forums were run with 53 participants and two Band 2 forums were held with 42 participants. Senior Executive Updates continued to provide timely information to the SES with 159 participants over three iterations and SES Snapshots attracted 81 participants over four sessions.

In preparation for a federal election the Commission offered the Guidance to Caretaker Conventions seminar. The June iteration attracted over 180 participants necessitating the scheduling of two further iterations.

Expert speakers for this event were Barbara Belcher (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) and Philip Prior (Department of Finance and Administration) with the then Acting Commissioner participating in panel discussions.

Executive level programs

Services provided to support executive level staff included specific topic-based seminars and programs through the Executive Level (EL) Series calendar, the highly successful Career Development Assessment Centres and continued delivery of the Senior Women in Management program.

EL series

In addition to existing development opportunities and offerings covering leadership issues and skills, the EL Series suite increased during the 2003—04 period with the introduction of new and revised programs. New programs included:

• Collaborative Policy Formulation and Advice
• How to Write High-impact Speeches and Respond to QONs (Questions on Notice)
• Leading and Managing Projects
• Management Essentials
• Managing Performance
• Policy Implementation–from plan to measurable results
• Work/life Balance.

This year the EL programs attracted a total of 906 participants with 45 programs delivered (See Figure 4). These participant numbers represent a 19% increase on last year’s numbers. The most popular of the programs were EL Updates, Influencing Skills and Leading and Managing Projects. A full list of programs and participant numbers is included in Table 48 at Appendix F.

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FIGURE 4: EL Development Programs–Number of participants

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SWIM

The Senior Women in Management (SWIM) program is a development program for women at the APS executive level, initiated in response to the relatively low representation of women in the SES ranks. The APS Commission has annually offered SWIM since the pilot program was delivered in 1988.

The aims and objectives of SWIM originally focused on the development of women, to increase promotion to the Senior Executive Service (SES) ranks. Over the years this has been joined by a number of further and complementary objectives, which have focused strongly on development of leadership and management skills by women in middle management positions.

Since its inception, a total of 408 women have completed the SWIM program, with 29 women from 21 agencies participating in 2003—04.

The Commission has undertaken a review of the SWIM program to assess the relevance of a women-only development program in the modern APS. Past participants, agencies and sponsors have contributed to the review, all highlighting the achievements of the program over the last 15 years. The evaluation report has been referred to the Leadership and Learning Advisory Committee and the Commission will be announcing its decisions later in 2004.

Career Development Assessment Centre

The Career Development Assessment Centre (CDAC), which identifies the development needs of EL2s against the SELCF capabilities, continues to remain a central element of the Commission’s strategy to strengthen leadership capability for the SES feeder group.

Participant and agency feedback, including a survey to all observers who participated in the current series, has continued to positively endorse the quality and relevance of the program. As a consequence, the Commission will be exercising its option to continue with the current program and provider in 2004—05. The Commission will be undertaking a re-tender process during this time for the delivery of CDAC for the period 2005—2008.

Twelve Centres were conducted during the period 2003—04. All Centres except one were fully subscribed, with 139 participants attending from 33 agencies, and a total of 32 senior executives participating as observers. Two observer training sessions were run during the period, increasing the total observer group by 21. A minimum of six Centres will be offered in 2004—05 and the selection guidelines have been revised to encourage the nomination of newer EL2s with potential for fast-tracking to the SES with appropriate development.

The Leadership and Learning Advisory Committee has continued to help the Commission in its oversight of the program, suggesting some modification during 2003—04 and confirming the importance of appropriate nominations and follow-up by agencies to ensure the most value from the program. In particular, there is advantage in nominating EL2s with potential but limited experience at the EL2 level to identify medium-term development needs for possible advancement further down the track.

APS 1—6 programs

Participation in programs offered through the Commission’s APS 1-6 Development Series increased significantly across the period under review. A total of 2146 participants attended programs in this series, resulting in an 11% increase compared with the 2002—03 attendance and a 20% increase against the 2001—02 attendance.

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FIGURE 5: APS 1—6 Development series–Number of participants

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A total of 145 programs were run in the period compared with 136 in 2002—03, an increase of 7% from the previous year (Figure 5). A full list of programs and participant numbers are included in Table 47 at Appendix F.

Five new programs were added to the APS 1—6 Development Calendar in this 2003—04 year. They were:

• Leading Small Teams
• Strategic Thinking;
• Policy Implementation–from Plan to Measurable Results
• How to Enrich your Representational Skills
• How to Write High-impact Speeches and Respond to Questions on Notice

The most popular programs for APS 1—6 included: Advanced writing skills; Getting that contract right; and Developing project management expertise.

Graduate Programs

In 2003—04 the Commission continued to provide centralised development programs and networking opportunities for APS graduates. Attendance levels in the development programs have continued to decline over the period, while there has been an increasing trend by APS agencies to access these programs through the Consultancy Services area in forms tailored to meet individual agency requirements.

Significant attendance numbers and subsequent feedback on Information and Networking Sessions (InfoNet) and other networking opportunities indicate a preference by agencies and participants for this type of forum. Graduate program attendance for the 2003—04 period totalled 455 with representation from 30 agencies. A full list of programs and participant numbers is included in Table 49 at Appendix F.

Indigenous Development Programs

During 2003—04, three iterations of the Indigenous APS 1—4 Career Development Workshop were held. The workshop included guest speakers and a focus on skills development. Participants were also provided with the opportunity to network and share experiences with other Indigenous APS employees. Participant feedback was very favourable.

New programs for Indigenous employees are currently under development. These include a leadership program for Indigenous Executive Level 1 and 2 employees and a career progression or positioning for leadership program for Indigenous APS 5—6 employees.

Tailored programs and services

The Commission facilitates the design, delivery and evaluation of APS-wide development activities and services within agencies through its Consultancy Services area. Consultancy Services has been an area of consistent growth in recent years. For example the number of activities delivered in 2003—04 was 680 compared to 520 activities in 2000—01. It is anticipated that the demand for delivery of tailored services to client agencies will continue to increase.

In 2003—04 Consultancy Services has delivered a variety of small, medium and large-scale development activities and consultancy services to agencies. During the year approximately 13,600 staff accessed 680 learning and development activities delivered nationally. Out of this, 110 activities were delivered in the regions. The activities in most demand in the regions were:

• procurement and contract management
• management and leadership programs and facilitations
• policy formulation and advice (introductory and advanced)
• values and behaviour training
• coaching and mentoring (emotional intelligence)
• ministerial and general writing skills.

Some significant activities facilitated by the Commission included:

• design, delivery and evaluation of Giving and Receiving Feedback for all staff of a medium-size agency
• the design, delivery and evaluation of a Performance Management System for a medium-size agency
• support to a division, within a large agency, to implement a new business model. This activity involved ongoing support and skilling of the team.

Evaluation of learning and development in APS agencies

In April 2003, the APS Commission, in conjunction with the ANAO, launched the better practice guide Building Capability–A Framework for Managing Learning and Development in the APS. This guide includes a recommended minimum data set that illustrates the kind of information that agencies need to collect to evaluate the value of their investment in learning and development. This minimum data set is not sufficient for a comprehensive measure of effectiveness, but provides a starting point in tracking inputs and outcomes.

The State of the Service agency survey for 2002—03 specifically sought information from agencies on aspects of this minimum data set, and will continue to do so over coming years.

While recognising that the assessment of the organisational impact of learning and development remains the responsibility of each agency, in 2004 the APS Commission began developing, in consultation with approximately 15 agencies, an evaluation guide to assist agencies in evaluating learning and development. This guide will promote ongoing business practices that will assist agencies in developing a comprehensive approach to assessing the value gained from their learning and development.

Delivery of programs in the regions

In all states the Commission’s regional director is on the management committee of the regional agency head forums (variously named), and in most states the Commission also provides other support to the forums and their management committees under Memoranda of Understanding (Vic, SA WA, NSW). These networks held a range of functions throughout 2003—04 including conferences, briefings and networking opportunities.

Regional heads and senior staff

Existing relationships with regional agency heads in both WA and NSW were further consolidated during the year when these states each entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commission to take on responsibility for the Public Sector Development functions. These arrangements took effect from 1 July 2003 in WA and from 1 January 2004 in NSW. These partnerships have strengthened the capacity to support networks of regional managers and enhanced opportunities for the development of senior staff from all levels of government.

Regional agency heads networks in Townsville, Darwin and Hobart continue to maintain strong and productive links established in recent years with the Commission’s offices in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne respectively, with the relevant Regional Directors being active members of these networks.

The Commission’s Regional Services South-West Group Manager is a member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Council in Victoria and is on several of its sub-committees, as is the Commission’s Regional Director in Western Australia. This has led to a partnering arrangement for delivery of some Executive Breakfasts and CEO Forums in WA.

In WA the inaugural recipient of the Public Sector Fellowship Program, jointly sponsored by the Commission, IPAA—WA and Curtin University, completed a paper on Bullying in the Workplace, which was presented at an IPAA—WA Twilight Seminar–Hidden Costs: Bullying in the WA Workplace. A second fellowship was awarded early in 2004 to an APS employee, Maarten Van der Wall from the Australian Bureau of Statistics–his paper, recently completed, addressed the issues of transfer of learning in the workplace and was titled Reflection as a Tool for the Transfer of Learning–The Missing Link in Management and Leadership. Also in WA, New Ideas, an interchange program for APS staff between agencies, has seen three staff take up this career development opportunity with placements in both federal and state departments, whereas in SA a similar program was launched but no departmental employees have taken up the opportunity to date.

Learning and development programs

Regional programs continue to support and augment the Commission’s Canberra programs throughout all States and the Northern Territory. Of the programs facilitated through the Commission’s offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, the top 15 programs in terms of participant numbers for 2003—04 are listed in Table 13. During the year programs have also been conducted in Townsville, Darwin, Alice Springs, Hobart and other regional centres. A full list of programs and participant numbers is included in Table 50 at Appendix F.

The total number of activities completed by the regions in 2003—04 under Output 2 was 408. The estimated activity level measured for Portfolio Budget Statement purposes was 363.

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TABLE 13: Regional programs–Top 15 programs by participant numbers in 2003—04

Activity	Frequency	Participants
Executive Breakfast Seminar	9	1450
Selection Advisory Committee Training	71	756
Performance Management	36	374
Promote Yourself	17	234
Effective Communication	15	196
International Women's Day	1	175
Leadership Lunchtime Seminar	2	149
Winning That Job	11	115
Values-Based Leadership and Management	3	112
Understanding Work Styles	8	99
APS Job Applications and Interviews	10	96
Delegates Accountability in Selection	10	87
Executive Update	2	84
Emotional Intelligence at Work	5	80
Conflict Resolution	9	79

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In 2003—04, across the regions, there has also been a trend to in-house delivery of programs with agencies seeking tailored programs to meet their particular operating environments and needs. There has been a strong demand for programs such as Competing for Promotion, to skill staff to be competitive in the selection process, and in selection panel/delegates workshops. As reported in 2002—03, agencies and APS staff have shown an increased interest in practical APS Values and Code of Conduct training, with some agencies arranging for delivery of these sessions for their staff on a national basis. This is reported in more detail under Output 3.

New South Wales

The NSW Regional Office experienced a significant increase in demand for training during 2003—04. This was largely due to the amalgamation of Public Sector Development training programs with the existing APS Commission courses resulting in almost double the number of programs being offered. Of particular significance was the development and introduction of two modular programs: Managing in the APS designed for APS6 to EL2 managers and, Basic Supervision for APS2 to APS5 levels new to supervision. Both programs proved popular with many agencies, receiving strong evaluations, and were run three times as public courses and also in-house for two agencies.

Awareness sessions covering the APS Values and Code of Conduct were requested by several large and small agencies. Harassment Contact Officer Training also proved popular with large agencies. One small agency requested that we work with them to develop and deliver their entire in-house learning and development calendar comprising 27 courses, with a mix of consultants and Commission staff delivering the training.

Victoria

In Victoria and Tasmania there were 30 public learning and development programs delivered covering a wide variety of areas including conducting investigations, project and financial management and report writing. The trend toward in-house programs continued. During 2003—04, the Commission contracted and/or delivered an average of one in-house program per week to agencies in Victoria and Tasmania. Fifty four programs were delivered, predominantly in the area of middle management development.

Queensland

The Queensland Regional Office experienced significant increase in demand for its learning and development programs during 2003—04 with the number of activities conducted in Brisbane and Townsville approximately double the level of 2002—03. Of particular note was the growth in management and leadership development activities conducted both in Brisbane and Townsville. Significant inroads were made into expanding learning and development activities in Townsville through collaboration with the Regional Director’s Network. Programs such as Leading and Managing Projects, Contract Management and Risk Managment were particularly popular in Townsville, while Conducting Investigations, Dealing with Difficult Clients and Leadership with Emotional Intelligence were popular in Brisbane.

The number of in-house programs conducted in Brisbane increased significantly, with programs such as selection techniques and harassment contact officer training being very popular in medium and larger agencies. Training in handling strategic priorities and developing project management expertise was also conducted for one of the large agencies.

South Australia

In the South Australian Regional Office the most significant trend was the large number of APS Values and Code of Conduct programs, both for APS and executive level employees. This occurred across the APS in both SA and NT. Values-based leadership programs were delivered to senior staff in DIMIA, ABS and Centrelink (SA and Northern Australia), and a values-based communications program is being developed. Another area of strong interest was merit selection in general–seen in courses like Promote Yourself for APS employees wanting to advance their career, and workshops for selection panel members and selection referees. Anecdotally these often seemed linked to some planned or potential selection activity within an agency. The most significant amount of work with one agency has been our training and development work with Customs SA office on performance management which was across all levels. Interest in the Commission’s services continues to rise in the NT, particularly for inhouse training, and the office has delivered inhouse training in Nhulunbuy and Alice Springs.

Western Australia

In 2003—04, the Western Australia office continued to build relationships with agencies in relation to learning and development activities. There has been a trend towards in-house delivery of programs for medium and larger agencies, with smaller agencies accessing the public programs. The most in-house programs in 2003—04 were selection committee and job application skills workshops.

Continuing with an ‘ethical’ flavour, the WA office assisted DIMIA with the development of a new program–Appropriate Workplace Behaviour– which has been presented to DIMIA’s senior management group and executive staff as well as other supervisory staff.

Cross-jurisdictional public sector development activities

Throughout 2003—04, the Commission continued to co-ordinate two Commonwealth/ State/Territory training activities, the Public Services Training Package and the Public Sector Management Program. In addition, the Commission was closely involved in the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), a cross-jurisdictional initiative to develop future public sector leaders.

Public Service Education and Training Australia–Use and review of the Public Services Training Package

The Commission represents the Commonwealth as a Board member of Public Service Education and Training Australia (PSETA). PSETA is the public service industry's national body for vocational education and training (VET) and the Board consists of the Commonwealth, state and territory Public Service Commissioners and employee representatives. The main product of PSETA is the Public Services Training Package, which was endorsed by the Australian National Training Authority in November 1999. The Commission actively promotes the package to APS agencies as an important training and development option that can underlie career management for many agencies.

Addressing training and development issues nationally has created a nationally consistent framework within which APS vocational training, education and recognition can occur, providing a better skilled and more mobile workforce. A national framework also creates a larger, unified market for public service training resulting in more quality training options being made available by private and institutional providers.

The package provides individuals with clear skill and career pathways through recognised national qualifications and gives Commonwealth agencies access to the National Training Framework. The package lists the skills or competencies used across Australian public services, breaks down each skill into levels, ranging from basic to advanced, and packages those individual skills into 22 nationally recognised VET qualifications ranging from Certificate II level to Advanced Diploma level.

Ensuring the package remains up to date is critical for it to support relevant training and recognition. In 2002—03 the Commission led Commonwealth participation in a review of the Package. The Commission undertook a significant amount of the review work on behalf of PSETA, ensuring the Commonwealth’s interests are reflected in the review of the package.

In 2003—04 the draft training package was provided to Commonwealth agencies for final comment before endorsement. Amongst other changes, the draft reviewed training package is now called the Public Sector Training Package (the Package), reflecting the wider coverage of competencies and occupations within the public sector. The new Package is significantly larger, encompassing:

• 14 reviewed key areas
• 11 new key areas, including border control, Government service delivery and Government security management
• 389 competency standards
• 319 imported standards
• 5 generalist qualifications
• 51 specialist qualifications.

The draft Public Sector Training Package was sent to the Australian National Training Authority in March 2003 for quality assurance. Final endorsement is expected in September 2004.

In 2003—04 the Commission continued promoting informal links between its non-SES development programs and the Package as part of their human resource development framework by identifying which nationally recognised skills are being developed by attendance at Commission development programs, and to which nationally recognised vocational education and training qualifications they contribute. Drawing these links is important for the nearly 60% of APS employees working in agencies which use accredited learning as part of their development framework (including Centrelink, Defence, ATO and the Australian Customs Service).

The Commission supports VET by maintaining a VET Network of over 120 contacts in 84 APS agencies who receive updates on how the Package can help their particular agency and on what other agencies are doing with the Package. The Commission promoted the Package at various local and national forums and in Commission publications. A successful VET Network Forum, hosted by the Commission and focusing on enterprise use of VET qualifications and the success of the Centrelink Virtual College, brought together over 80 Commonwealth participants in March 2004.

Finally, the Commission worked to increase acceptance of the Package through providing expert industry advice on training course accreditation to local recognition and accreditation authorities, meeting with senior staff in agencies, presenting information publicly to a variety of APS networks and further embedding the training package in the range of development options available to APS agencies. For example, the Commission mapped CPA (Certified Practicing Accountants) Australia professional development programs into the Public Services Training Package to provide guidance to agencies using CPA Australia programs and the Package as part of their development framework.

Public Sector Management Program

The Commission continued to support quality people management by co-ordinating Commonwealth, state and territory participation in the Public Sector Management (PSM) Program and by providing secretariat services to a Board of Management that oversees the program. Mr Lionel Woodward AO, CEO of the Australian Customs Service, is the current Chair of the Board.

The PSM Program was initiated in 1992 as a national strategy to deliver relevant and practical management training that reflects the changing expectations of the public sector. It is the preeminent management development program for public sector middle managers and is a joint venture between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.

In July 2002, a reviewed and rewritten PSM Program curriculum commenced. The new program has received strong praise from Commonwealth participants and their employers as both comprehensive and relevant to the workplace. It provides the full range of middle management skills and places them firmly in a public sector context. As anticipated, the new PSM Program reversed a six-year decline in Commonwealth uptake of the program, with Commonwealth new participants increasing from 106 in 2001—02 to 156 in 2002—03 and 183 in 2003—04.

While Commonwealth use of the PSM Program has increased, uptake is narrowly focused with Centrelink, Defence and the Department of Health and Ageing accounting for 50% of participants. The Commission believes the Program should receive considerably wider application and will undertake additional marketing activity to Commonwealth agencies in 2004—05, as well as ensuring that the curriculum remains relevant to Commonwealth agencies through the latest curriculum review.

Since its inception in 1992, a total of 8251 participants have undertaken the Program, of whom 2294 were Commonwealth employees. By 30 June 2004, 3252 participants had graduated from the PSM Program, of whom 873 were Commonwealth employees.

Program graduates receive a graduate certificate qualification from Griffith University, Macquarie University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology or Curtin University. Successful completion of the Program is the sole entry requirement into a Master of Arts in Public Sector Leadership program which has been specially developed to build on the PSM Program’s skills and knowledge.

In 2003—04 the Commission designed and commissioned a new national assessment management system for the PSM Program, including a PSM Program National Assessment Centre managing over 30 assessors and approximately 7000 assessable items annually. In 2004—05, the Commission will investigate and obtain a new on-line assignment management system to automate student assignment submission.

In addition, in 2004—05 the Commission will manage a review and refreshment of the PSM Program curriculum to ensure it incorporates the latest management developments and academic research. The curriculum will be available from 1 January 2005.

Implementation of Investors in People Standard in agencies

During 2003—04, the Commission continued to support the APS agencies implementing the Investors in People (IiP) Standard.

IiP is a plain language, internationally recognised quality standard concerned with achieving best practice in the management and development of people to deliver organisational goals. It offers organisations a sound planning and monitoring framework for people management and the opportunity to review performance against a recognised international standard benchmark.

Implementing IiP contributes to an organisation’s performance and reinforces an integrated approach to people management and workforce planning, in that it provides:

• a sensible, integrated conceptual framework for a disciplined consideration of how people strategies can support the achievement of business imperatives
• useful documentation and concrete products that help agencies make choices and plan action
• a practical means for motivating staff and building staff morale
• the flexibility necessary for each agency to develop people strategies most appropriate to its unique business circumstances and culture.

Six APS agencies have gained recognition as achieving the Investors in People Standard over the last five years: the Department of Transport and Regional Services (1999), Bureau of Rural Sciences (2000), Australian Greenhouse Office (2001), Department of the House of Representatives (2001), Environment Australia (2001) and Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (2002). These agencies have successfully continued with the ongoing improvement process of an annual audit and the three-yearly re-accreditation assessment. In November 2003, the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Department of the House of Representatives were awarded the Gold and Silver award respectively for public sector organisations, at the inaugural Australian Investors in People Conference.

As the Investors in People Standard is now well established in a number of agencies, the Commission will not continue to provide specific support. The APS agency co-ordinators network, which the Commission has convened for some 5 years, is intending to continue as a basis for active exchange and support, facilitated by the members.

Price for Output 2

The total price for Output 2 was $12.614m which was lower than the estimated price of $13.706m published in the Additional Estimates in February 2004 (which included the additional funding provided for the ILS).

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TABLE 14: Performance information–Output Component 2.1.2

Target	Result
Quantity Learning and development programs Number of development activities delivered. (Estimate 813)	Achieved 958 activities were delivered via the Commission development programs and Consultancy Services team in Canberra.
Orientation to the Senior Executive Service program % of new entrants to the SES attend an Orientation to the Senior Executive Service within the first 1—3 years. Target is 75%	Not fully achieved 44% of new entrants to the SES between the year 2001—02 and 2003—04 had participated in Orientation to the Senior Executive Service by the end of 2003—04.
Career Development Assessment Centre Number of Career Development Assessment Centres delivered. (Estimate 12).	Achieved 12 Delivered
Quality Learning and development programs At least 90% of responding participants, when surveyed, give an average rating of above 4.5 (out of 6) for: • achieving objective • program content • quality of presenter.	Achieved Over 90% of all program participants completed evaluations on the programs they attended. The results below reflect the average rating of over 90% of respondents against the identified quality measure. • achieving objectives–5.3 • program content–5.3 • quality of presenter–5.5
Consultancy Services Team At least 90% of responding clients, when surveyed, give an average rating of above 4.5 (out of 6) for how well the program was: • tailored and delivered • co-ordinated and administered.	Achieved 100% of client agencies were surveyed to provide results against this quality measure. The results below reflect the average ratings of over 90% respondents against the identified quality measure. • tailored and delivered—5.2 • co-ordinated and administered—4.8 Note: Only 33% of clients responded to the survey.
Career Development Assessment Centre 90% of responding participants believed that attendance at the Centre made them more effective leaders.	Achieved 93% of participants believed their attendance at the Centre was beneficial to extremely beneficial in assisting them to be a more effective leader.

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