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.

Our mission is to promote, review and evaluate a values-based APS and to foster its capability. The statutory responsibilities that support our mission are outlined in the Public Service Act 1999 and include:

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 the Code of Conduct
develop, promote, review and evaluate APS employment policies and practices
facilitate continuous improvement in people management throughout the APS
coordinate 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.

The Commission works to achieve an outcome specified by government, namely: ‘a confident, high quality, values based and sustainable Australian Public Service’.

To fulfil our statutory responsibilities and deliver on the Government’s outcome, we work closely with APS agencies to deliver ongoing services and strategic priorities in five output groups:

APS policy and employment services
Leadership, learning and development services
Organisational performance, promotion and support
Evaluation
Merit Protection and other services

The Commission’s activities are funded through a blend of budget appropriation and revenue generated through sale of services. Much of this revenue is earned in an open market where agencies have choices about where they source services and the levels of services acquired. In 2004–05 the Commission received $17.195 million in appropriation funding with the balance of its resources ($15.404 million) coming from non-appropriation measures and gazette revenue.

As the agency head, the Public Service Commissioner provides the staff necessary to help the Merit Protection Commissioner perform his functions under the Act. The arrangements for providing staff to the Merit Protection Commissioner are set out in a memorandum of understanding.

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Commission structure

The Commission is led by a four-person Executive (the Public Service Commissioner, the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Coordinator and the Merit Protection Commissioner) and has six groups. A group manager, who is individually responsible for the performance of their group, leads each group. The Commission’s organisational chart, with the names of senior staff as at 30 June 2005, is at Figure 1.

Figure 1: Commission organisational chart at 30 June 2005

The Policy Group provides advice to government and agencies on the policy and legislative aspects of public administration, people management and employment frameworks within the APS Values and Code of Conduct. It is also responsible for international matters.

The Better Practice Group promotes Indigenous employment through a range of strategic recruitment and career development initiatives. It advises agencies on good practice on significant issues facing the APS, such as whole-of-government approaches, mature aged workers, workforce planning and performance management.

The Programmes Group builds the capability of the APS by providing a wide range of leadership, learning and development activities for all levels of APS staff including senior executives.

The Evaluation Group evaluates and provides information on APS performance through the annual State of the Service Report to parliament and through more specific evaluation and research projects. It maintains the APS employment database, monitors trends and publishes key workforce statistics.

The Regional Services Group represents the Commission throughout Australia, helping agencies with people management, including learning and development, promoting better practice, staff selection and review of employment-related actions.

The Corporate Group provides strategic management, information, financial, library, legal, parliamentary and support services to help the Commission achieve its mission. It also manages production of the Public Service Gazette.

Commission reports/corporate documents

As part of its statutory responsibilities, the Commission produces 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 the Commission produces are its corporate plan, budget statements and a booklet called 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 web site at <www.apsc.gov.au>.

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Commission locations

The Commission’s national office is in Canberra and it has regional offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. APS agencies in the Northern Territory and Tasmania are serviced 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

New South Wales
Level 16
447 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9286 2400
F: 02 9264 8379

Victoria
Level 6
303 Collins Street
Melbourne Vic. 3000
T: 03 8610 1522
F: 03 8610 1594

Queensland
11th floor
300 Ann Street
Brisbane Qld 4000
T: 07 3236 4877
F: 07 3221 0806

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

South Australia
3rd Floor
70 Hindmarsh Square
Adelaide SA 5000
T: 08 8224 0955
F: 08 8223 5866

Hobart is serviced through Melbourne
Darwin is serviced through Adelaide

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