Commission overview

The Australian Public Service Commission is a central agency within the Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio. It supports two Statutory Office holders, the Public Service Commissioner (who is also Agency Head) and the Merit Protection Commissioner.

The Commission’s statutory responsibilities are outlined below. In addition the APS Commission works to achieve one outcome specified by government: "a confident, high quality, values based and sustainable Australian Public Service".

APSC MISSION ‘promote a values-based APS, foster organisational performance, and evaluate the State of the Service’

The Commission also has statutory responsibilities under the Public Service Act 1999 to:

evaluate the extent to which agencies incorporate and uphold the APS Values

evaluate the adequacy of systems and procedures in agencies for ensuring compliance with the Code of Conduct

promote the APS Values and Conduct

develop, promote, review and evaluate APS employment policies and practices

facilitate continuous improvement in people management throughout the APS

co-ordinate and support APS-wide training and career development

contribute to, and foster, leadership in the APS

provide advice and assistance on public service matters to agencies on request

provide external review of actions by the Merit Protection Commissioner

To fulfil its statutory responsibilities and deliver on the Government’s outcome, the Commission works closely with APS agencies in delivering ongoing services and strategic priorities in five output groups:

1. APS policy and employment services

2. Leadership, learning and development services

3. Organisational performance, promotion and support

4. Evaluation

5. Merit Protection and other services

The Commission’s activities are funded through a blend of Budget appropriation and revenue generated through the sale of leadership, learning and development activities and employment-related services. This revenue is earned in an open market where agencies have choices about where they source services and the levels of services acquired.

In 2003—04 the Commission received $16.544m in Appropriation funding with the balance of its resourcing ($12.309m) coming from non-appropriation measures and gazette revenue.

Commission structure

The Commission’s administrative structure is based on seven groups, four linked directly to the first four output groups, two regional groups with responsibilities across all five output groups, and a corporate strategy and support group.

Group Managers are individually responsible for the performance of a group. The Commission’s organisational chart, with the names of senior staff as at 30 June 2004, against Group responsibilities is at Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Commission organisational chart at 30 June 2004

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An eighth group, Indigenous Employment Group, was added to the Commission structure in July 2004.

A more detailed description of the roles and responsibilities of these groups can be found in our booklet Introducing the Australian Public Service Commission, available on our website at www.apsc.gov.au

Output Structure

The Commission’s organisational structure is closely aligned with its output structure. In 2003—04, we made minor adjustments to the number and description of the output components detailed within Output Group 5– Merit protection and other services.

The purpose of the changes to Output 5 was to better align the Portfolio Budget Statements with internal Commission management reporting and with the Public Service Commissioner’s Annual Report, which discloses review activities.

Specifically, reviews conducted on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner and Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner and associated support services provided by the Commission have been consolidated in two separate output components (5.1.1 and 5.1.3 respectively). Whistleblowing reports to the Public Service Commissioner and Merit Protection Commissioner continue to be separately identified.

The table below compares the revised Output Group 5 components with those published in last year’s Portfolio Budget Statements. This year’s Annual Report provides an account of performance against the 2003—04 Output while reporting against the revised components will commence in the Commissioner’s 2004—05 Annual Report.

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OUTPUT COMPONENT 5.1: Service delivery

TABLE 1: NEW OUTPUT STRUCTURE–Merit Protection and other services

2003—04	2004—05
5.1.1 Conduct reviews of promotion decisions 5.1.3 Primary reviews including breaches of the Code of Conduct 5.1.4 Secondary reviews of other employment action	5.1.1 Conduct reviews on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner and Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner
5.1.2 Responding to whistleblowing reports 5.1.5 Provide support services to the Parliamentary Merit Protection Commissioner	5.1.2 Respond to whistleblowing reports 5.1.3 Provide support services to the Merit Protection Commissioner and Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner

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Executive leadership

The Public Service Commissioner works closely with the Merit Protection Commissioner whose functions are established under section 50 of the PS Act. The Merit Commissioner’s primary role is to provide independent external review of actions affecting individual APS employees. This role supports the legislative obligation of Agency Heads, included in the APS Values, to provide a fair system for review of decisions for all APS employees. The Merit Protection Commissioner also has responsibilities relating to breaches of the Code of Conduct (including whistleblowing) and increasingly has a role in promoting good practice in people management.

As the Agency Head, the Public Service Commissioner provides the staff necessary to assist the Merit Protection Commissioner to perform functions under the PS Act. The arrangements for the provision of staff to the Merit Protection Commissioner are set out in a Memorandum of Understanding.

Executive leadership for the Commission is provided by the Public Service Commissioner (Andrew Podger), Deputy Public Service Commissioner (Lynne Tacy) and Merit Protection Commissioner (Jeff Lamond). They are supported by the Commission’s Management Committee (CMC) which includes Group Managers. This Committee is the main decision-making body with responsibility for corporate and strategic planning. The CMC meets fortnightly to review and monitor business plans, allocate resources and monitor revenues and expenditure. It also provides a forum for discussing APS policy issues or issues of importance to the functioning of the Commission.

Strategic priorities for 2003—04

Four strategic priorities and a range of supporting activities were identified in the Portfolio Budget Statements in 2003—04. The first three priorities focused on Commission support for the APS while the fourth priority addressed internal capability in the Commission.

They were:

1. Strengthening our evaluation role to provide the APS, the Government and the Parliament with assurance that the Service is performing effectively

2. Supporting the capability of the Service to meet future challenges

3. Representing the APS, and communicating persuasively with agencies and the APS at large

4. Aligning our own people and systems to our business objectives and priorities, with a deepening of our skills base.

Commission Reports/Corporate Documents

As part of its statutory responsibilities, the Commission produces the State of the Service series of reports–the State of the Service Report (incorporating the Workplace Diversity Report) and the APS Statistical Bulletin, which comment on the performance, nature and composition of the APS during the year.

Other key corporate documents produced by the Commission are its Corporate Plan, Budget Statements, Service Charter and a booklet Introducing the Australian Public Service Commission.

Information provided in Commission publications and circulars, as well as speeches given by the Public Service Commissioner, are available on the Commission’s Internet site at www.apsc.gov.au .

Commission locations

The Commission has its national office in Canberra with state offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. APS agencies in the Northern Territory and Tasmania are served from the Adelaide and Melbourne offices respectively.

Office locations and contact details are:

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Edmund Barton Building
BARTON ACT 2600
T: 02 6272 3977
F: 02 6272 3469
helpline: 02 6272 3609

VICTORIA
Level 6
303 Collins Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
T: 03 8610 1522
F: 03 8610 1594

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Level 1 St Georges Square
225 St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
T: 08 9226 1977
F: 08 9226 5977

QUEENSLAND
11th Floor
300 Ann Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
T: 07 3236 4877
F: 07 3221 0806

NEW SOUTH WALES
Level 16
447 Kent Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
T: 02 9286 2400
F: 02 9264 8379

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
3rd Floor
70 Hindmarsh Square
ADELAIDE SA 5000
T: 08 8224 0955
F: 08 8223 5866

Hobart serviced through Melbourne
Darwin serviced through Adelaide

This page is available from www.apsc.gov.au/annualreports/0304overview.htm
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