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Part one

Output 1: Policy and employment services

Output 1 is drawn from the Commissioner’s statutory role, listed in section 41 of the Public Service Act 1999, in particular, her responsibilities to:

Achievements

Our achievements under Output 1 this year included:

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Slippages

We did not achieve our target of hosting 35 visits of overseas delegations. The number of overseas delegation visits the Commission coordinated and hosted declined from 58 in 2003–04 to 25 in 2004–05. This was mainly due to a decline in the number of visiting delegations from China.

The total price for Output 1 is $7.978 million.

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Provide advice and support to government

One of the Commission’s central roles is to provide high quality, timely advice and support to the Government on APS policy.

During the year, we forwarded 22 (52 last year) formal submissions to the Minister and actioned 16 (28 last year) items of ministerial correspondence or representations. The lower number of formal submissions was largely related to the federal election in October 2004 and the need for fewer legislative changes in 2004–05; it was close to the estimate of 24 submissions.

The Commission continues to measure the quality and timeliness of advice provided to the Minister. The Minister is asked to assess briefs against documented standards and rate them against a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being excellent.

In 2004–05, the Minister provided ratings for 18 of the 22 briefs forwarded for his consideration. All received a rating of 4 or more.

The rating system provides important feedback to staff who brief the Minister, so they can refine and improve the provision of their advice and support.

Major policy issues

A major focus of the Commission’s policy advice in 2004–05 continued to be operation of the Public Service Act framework and supporting documentation. In particular:

Disclosure of information

In December 2003 Justice Finn’s decision in the case of Bennett v The President, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission [2003] 204 ALR 119 (the Bennett case) cast doubt on the validity of Public Service regulation 2.1. This regulation deals with the unauthorised disclosure of work-related information by APS employees. It was regarded as part of the APS Code of Conduct.

To remove uncertainty about the validity of the provision, a replacement regulation was developed, taking account of Justice Finn’s comments in the Bennett case. Public Service Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2), substituting a new regulation 2.1, became effective on 23 December 2004. The amendments were open to the usual parliamentary scrutiny and therefore subject to a notice of disallowance in either House of Parliament within fifteen sitting days of tabling, on 8 February 2005. On 16 June 2005 the Senate voted in favour of a motion put by the Opposition to disallow the amendments.

The disallowed regulation was in force from 23 December 2004 until 15 June 2005. The disallowance rendered it ineffective from and including 16 June 2005 and revived former regulation 2.1 from the same date.

On 17 June 2005 the Commission issued Circular No 2005/3: Disallowance of Amendments to the Public Service Regulations 1999 – Regulation 2.1 (Disclosure of information), advising agencies of the disallowance, and that the Government was considering what steps it might take to ensure an appropriate balance between the ability of public servants, as citizens, to discuss important issues, and the need to ensure the confidentiality of government information where appropriate.

Parliamentary inquiries

During 2004–05, the Commission was involved in one parliamentary inquiry initiated by the Senate.

The Commission coordinated the Government’s response to the Senate Finance and Administration References Committee report on recruitment and training in the APS. The response was tabled in the Senate on 10 March 2005.

Table 2: Performance Information—Output 1.1.1—Provide advice and support to Government on APS policy
Target Result
Quantity
Number of items to Ministers:  
responses to ministerial correspondence—estimate 36 Overestimated: Only 16 responses to ministerial correspondence
question time briefs—estimate 5 Exceeded: 10 new question time briefs
Ministerial requests for briefings—estimate 24 Achieved: 22 ministerial briefings
Quality
Percentage of items rated satisfactory or higher in terms of relevance, quality and timeliness. Target is 100%. Achieved: 100% rated briefs at a higher than satisfactory standard.
Estimated price: $0.397 million Actual: $0.318 million
Lower than estimated price due to the allocation of resouces to other priorities.

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Provide advice to agency heads

One of the Commission’s central roles is to provide high quality, timely advice and support to agency heads on APS policy and legislation, and to support the Management Advisory Committee.

Employment Policy Adviceline Service

During the year, the Commission took steps to improve the quality of its telephone and email advisory service. The service has been renamed the Employment Policy Adviceline, reflecting the focus of the service.

A new answering system was introduced in November 2004 to electronically screen calls and redirect callers to the most appropriate area of the Commission. This has led to a significant decline in the number of calls about the Commission’s public programmes and calls that should go through the switchboard.

Despite the change of name and diversion of calls, the total number of calls the Adviceline recorded fell only slightly when compared with last year’s figures (3469 compared to 3655 in 2003–04).

The percentage of advice sought by email, however, has steadily increased as the Commission has encouraged agencies to seek advice on more complex or sensitive issues in writing. Approximately 30% of communication with the service is now by email rather than by telephone. The email address is now employmentadvice@apsc.gov.au.

Table 3 identifies the main categories of calls received. Calls relating to selection, movement and placement of APS employees continue to dominate.

Table 3: Categories of adviceline calls, 2004–05
Subject 2003–04 2004–05
Staffing matters 755 812
General legislative issues 233 298
Review matters 259 270
Conditions/entitlements 175 251
Separations 158 234
Values/Code of Conduct 233 187
SES matters 62 46
Mobility/reciprocal mobility 22 16
Competencies/qualifications 21 10

Publications and circulars

This year, as part of our role in updating agencies on a range of human resource management issues, we:

The Commission’s 2003–04 annual report noted that the Australian National Audit Office had undertaken an audit of compensation payments and debt relief in special circumstances during 2003–04 (Audit Report No. 35 2003–04). The Australian National Audit Office consulted the Commission in relation to the references in the audit report to these special payments made under section 73 of the Act.

In October 2004, we issued revised advice to agencies on section 73 payments. It is intended that section 73(6) of the Act will also be amended in financial framework amendment legislation being coordinated by the Department of Finance and Administration.

In addition, we published our third occasional paper, A History in Three Acts—Evolution of the Public Service Act 1999, in October 2004.

A full list of publications and circulars can be found at Appendix D.

Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service

Picture:Lynelle Briggs at the Foundations launch

Picture: Lynelle Briggs at the Foundations launch

Focus: Foundations of Governance
Find out more about the launch of Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service.

On 1 June 2005 the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Peter Shergold, and the Public Service Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs, launched Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service, a groundbreaking information resource for agency heads and senior managers.

Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service is both a publication and an interactive Internet resource that draws together agency head obligations that are spread through a range of legislation and policy documents across many portfolios. It is designed to help agency heads meet their obligations and responsibilities, particularly newly appointed agency heads. The resources include:

The need to make this information more accessible, particularly to newly appointed agency heads and senior officers in the APS, was highlighted in a survey of a sample of representative agencies in 2003.

The Commission led a small project team in developing Foundations; a reference group comprising officers from a number of central and line agencies guided its work.

The Internet resource is available at www.apsc.gov.au/foundations. With the cooperation of contributing agencies, this resource will be updated on a regular basis.

Management Advisory Committee

We continued to provide a range of secretariat and research services to the MAC. The committee was established under section 64 of the Act. It is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the Public Service Commissioner as executive officer. The Committee met twice during 2004–05, in November 2004 and May 2005.

The committee currently has 25 members, including all portfolio Secretaries and the heads of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Taxation Office, the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination, and Centrelink. The Auditor-General is invited as an observer.

The committee is charged with advising the Government on matters relating to managing the APS. While it has no statutory powers or executive functions, it provides a forum for members to discuss significant issues of topical and strategic interest to the APS. It first met in December 2000.

The committee’s four reports:

are available on the Commission’s web site at www.apsc.gov.au/mac.

Two groups, both chaired by the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, have been convened to progress current MAC priorities. One group is charged with implementing the recommendations of the 2004 MAC Connecting Government report. The second is responsible for overseeing a new MAC project.

At its November 2004 meeting, the committee decided to prepare a report on managing and sustaining the APS workforce, with a focus on graduate recruitment and career development. A project team was assembled to work on the project in consultation with a Deputy Secretaries Group. The team consists of an SES officer from the Department of Health and Ageing and an executive level employee from Centrelink. Commission staff provide ongoing support, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics has provided assistance with an agency questionnaire on graduate and other recruitment issues.

The report on managing and sustaining the APS workforce will expand on the MAC report Organisational Renewal (2003) that analysed the emerging workforce development and succession issues arising from an ageing public service. The report concluded that agencies need to address these issues on the basis of systematic workforce planning.

Preparation of the new report has involved:

The final report is expected to be completed early in 2005–06.

Implementation of the recommendations of the Connecting Government(2004) report continued during 2004–05. These were translated into an implementation plan that was considered by MAC in November 2004. To help agencies implement whole-of-government issues, the MAC chair, Dr Peter Shergold, wrote to portfolio agencies in March 2005 about the importance of implementation and provided a checklist of items for attention. A final report on whole-of-government implementation will be presented to MAC in late 2005.

A key recommendation of the Connecting Government report was development of a web presence for whole-of-government—the Connected Government web site. The site is designed to provide support to whole-of-government work through practical guidance and by highlighting good practice. A newly-created position of whole-of-government analyst will be located within the Commission to work closely with a range of government agencies, and will be accountable to MAC for supporting connected government by developing, sourcing, managing and evaluating the web site www.connected.gov.au.

Table 4: Performance Information—Output 1.2.1—Provide advice to agency heads on APS policy and legislation, and support the Management Advisory Committee
Target Result
Quantity
Number of reports and responses to requests for information and advice:
  • responses to correspondence—estimate 28
    		•  Exceeded: 48 responses to correspondence. Increase is largely due to the amendment to Reg 2.1 in September. [note: this figure does not include responses to the growing number of emails seeking advice direct from policy advisers]
  • telephone enquiries—estimate 3200
    		•  Achieved: Over 3400 telephone and email enquiries handled through the Adviceline
  • reports, circulars and publications—estimate 29
    		•  Overestimated: 22 reports, circulars and publications were released
    Secretariat services provided to the Management Advisory Committee (MAC) and operational support to the Commissioner as the Executive Officer of the MAC—estimate 3 MAC meetings and 2 MAC projects to be supported The Commission provided support for
  • 2 MAC meetings (in November 2004 and May 2005), and
  • 4 meetings of the whole of government Deputy Secretaries Group and 4 meetings of the APS workforce Deputy Secretaries Group
    		•
    Quality
    A high level of satisfaction of the MAC with the relevance, quality and timeliness of advice and support provided

    Achieved:Whole-of-government implementation is now a central priority for MAC member agencies. A website will be operating in the second half of 2005.

    The APS workforce Deputy Secretaries Group provided MAC with a draft report for release in the second half of 2005. MAC members also indicated full satisfaction with the support provided by the Commission.
    Estimated price: $1.245 million Actual: $1.285 million
    Consistent with estimated price

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    Manage Commission responsibilities for SES engagements, promotions and terminations

    The Commissioner has a number of responsibilities in relation to Senior Executive Service (SES) staffing arrangements under the Act and Commissioner’s Directions.

    SES selections

    In 2004-05, the Commissioner endorsed a total of 189 selection exercises, with agency heads making decisions to fill 339 advertised SES employment opportunities by promotion, engagement or movement at level during the year. In reviewing requests for endorsement, the Commission maintained an effective turnaround rate, the average remaining at less than one working day per case.

    SES retirement under section 37

    Section 37 of the Public Service Act provides agency heads with the capacity to offer a financial incentive to an SES employee if they retire within a specified period, subject to the Commissioner agreeing to the amount to be paid as the incentive. In 2004-05, 44 section 37 retirements took effect, a level of usage similar to recent years.

    Appendix E contains the SES profile at 30 June 2005 together with details of promotions, engagements and movements at level to advertised SES employment opportunities, section 37 retirements by agency and all SES separations by type during 2004-05.

    SES Adviser

    The Group Manager, Policy Group, undertakes the role of SES Adviser. The SES Adviser is available to SES employees seeking advice on career options, in particular those SES who are considering offers to retire under section 37 of the Act. Such advice was provided on approximately 50 occasions in 2004–05.

    Succession management in the APS

    The Commissioner has continued to gather relevant information from Secretaries on succession management issues, including views on the quality of the Senior Executive Band 3 group and who, amongst that group, might be ready for advancement to more senior positions. The Commissioner will use this information to advise the Secretary group on succession management matters in general, and in particular to assist the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in his role advising the Prime Minister on suitable candidates for actual agency head vacancies. The Commissioner will be gathering information and holding discussions with Secretaries early in 2005–06, which will be followed up on an annual basis to maintain the currency of the information held.

    Table 5: Performance Information—Output 1.2.2—Manage Commission responsibilities for SES engagements, promotions and terminations
    Target Result
    Quantity
    Number of SES engagements, promotions and terminations—estimate 200 Exceeded: 233 matters resolved.
    Quality
    95% of agency SES employment recommendations able to be endorsed within one week of receipt of documents Exceeded: 100% of SES employment recommendations endorsed by the Commissioner within one week of receipt.
    Estimated price: $0.295 million Actual: $0.329 million
    Consistent with estimated price

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    Manage international responsibilities

    The Commissioner has a number of responsibilities in the international arena. They include participating in international organisations, hosting overseas delegations, supporting public sector reform in the Asia–Pacific region and participating in conferences.

    Participating in international organisations

    We continued to participate in international organisations interested in public administration. In particular:

    Hosting visits by overseas delegations

    Korea 10 December 2004

    The number of overseas delegations visiting the Commission to discuss public sector reform and the Commission’s role and responsibilities declined from 58 in 2003–04 to 25 in 2004–05. The number of visitors was 166 (down from 557 in 2003–04). Visits from Asia accounted for 72%. China remained the country with the largest number of visits (7) and visitors (85); however, this was a significant decline on 2003–04 when there were 27 visits from China totalling 400 visitors.

    Other Asian visitors were from India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The remaining visitors were from Argentina, Belgium, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and the United Arab Emirates. All delegations included senior public sector officials and some included relevant Ministers.

    Supporting public sector reform in the Asia–Pacific region

    There was an increase in the level of AusAID funded international activities undertaken by the Commission to promote and support public sector reform, particularly in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. Specifically, the Commission agreed to deliver a range of public sector reform related projects in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, as well as Thailand and Indonesia.

    In April and June 2005 APS officials visited Thailand to provide technical assistance to the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission on development of an effective human resource policy framework and to the Office of the Civil Service Commission on development of a human resource management assessment and evaluation system. A successful study visit to Australia was arranged in June for seven senior officials from the Office of the Civil Service Commission to gain an appreciation of the approach in Australia to performance assessment and evaluation.

    Assistance in Indonesia was disrupted by the bombing at the Australian embassy and the delay in appointing a new head of the Indonesian National Civil Service Agency.

    We deployed two people to work as advisers on industrial relations and human resource management in the Papua New Guinea Department of Personnel Management as part of the Enhanced Cooperation Program. In addition, we continued to provide technical advice and assistance to the Papua New Guinea Public Service Commission on a range of issues. These included handling of appointments and terminations of departmental Secretaries and provincial administrators, case management practices and procedures, and training review officers.

    The largest element of the Commission’s international assistance programme in 2004–05 was conducted in the Pacific region. During the year we:

    Participating in Public Service Commissioners’ conferences

    During the year the Public Service Commissioner participated in two conferences with counterparts from state and territory governments, and New Zealand. The conferences were held in October 2004 and April 2005 and provided a forum for exchanging information about public sector employment policies and practices, and for considering issues of common interest.

    At the April 2005 meeting, commissioners discussed shifting the focus of the conferences from information sharing to a more strategic role, such as identifying and progressing specific common issues. There was broad agreement that conferences offer them a vehicle to identify and take action on public sector employment issues of mutual strategic concern.

    Table 6: Performance Information—Output 1.2.3—Manage Commission responsibilities in international matters
    Target Result
    Quantity
    Services to support initiatives to improve public administration in the Pacific, including secondments to Papua New Guinea, regular meetings of Pacific Commissioners and ANZSOG scholarships Achieved: Arranged 9 work attachments, placed 4 scholarship holders, placed 2 people in Papua New Guinea public service. Meeting of Pacific Commissioners postponed to July 2005 because of cyclone damage in Cook Islands.
    Number of overseas delegation visits co-ordinated and hosted-estimate 35 Decline: The Commission co‑ordinated and hosted 25 visiting delegations. The target was not achieved because of a decline in the number of visiting delegations from China.
    Quality
    High level of satisfaction with quality and timeliness of reports. Achieved: Direct positive feedback on quality of reports prepared for Papua New Guinea Public Service Commission.
    High level of satisfaction by AusAID and aid recipients with advice and services provided. Achieved: No adverse comments received from AusAID. Aid recipients provided direct positive feedback on quality of advice and services provided.
    High level of satisfaction of the delegations as advised by the third-party organisers. Achieved: Consistently high levels of satisfaction expressed through feedback in formal letters of appreciation and informal emails of thanks from the visiting delegations and organisers.
    Estimated price: $0.639 million Actual: $1.523 million
    Increase in the level of AusAID funded international activities

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    Produce the Public Service Gazette

    Ann Martin Gazette manager

    Ann Martin
    Gazette manager

    The Act requires that the APS provide the community with a reasonable opportunity to apply for public service positions. Publication of notices in the weekly Public Service Gazette fulfils this requirement. The gazette notifies all APS employment vacancies, transfers, promotions and some learning and development opportunities.

    The Commission is responsible for producing the gazette. The gazette is published in hard copy, online on the Internet at www.psgazette.gov.au and in electronic form for download by agencies that do not provide Internet access for their staff. Data is also transmitted to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations for display on the Australian Jobsearch site at www.jobsearch.gov.au.

    During 2004–05, work progressed on enhancements to the gazette publishing system to improve the process for lodgement of notices by agencies. The first stage of enhancements will provide significant usability and productivity improvements for agencies and will be completed in early 2006. Subsequent enhancements will improve functionality.

    The number of notices lodged increased in 2004–05 to 39,000—a 22% increase on 2003–04 (31,900). This increase returns the number of notices lodged to the 2002–03 level when 39,100 notices were lodged. Most of this increase took place in the latter part of the financial year and reflects major recruitment activities in two large agencies—the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Defence.

    Figure 2: Gazette lodgements 2003–04 and 2004–05

    Chart - Figure 2

    Demand for the hard copy version of the gazette has been declining for several years and this pattern continued during 2004–05. The total number of hard copy gazettes produced annually has declined by a further 33% during 2004–05.

    We are considering phasing out the hard copy version of the gazette in conjunction with introducing an enhanced electronic format, given the obvious preference for the electronic form and the relatively high cost of small print runs.

    Table 7: Performance Information—Output 1.2.4—Produce the Public Service Gazette
    Target Result
    Quantity
    50 gazettes produced in accordance with requirements. Achieved. 50 gazettes produced in accordance with requirements
    Quality
    100% of gazette entries accurately published in accordance with legislative requirements. Achieved. No significant errors or omissions identified
    Estimated price: $1.178 million Actual: $1.078 million
    Decrease due to decline in demand for hard copy version of the gazette

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    Provide other employment-related services

    The Commission provides advice to agencies on the operation of relevant legislative provisions applying to administrative re-arrangements as a result of machinery-of-government changes. We are also responsible for executing the necessary legislative instruments to effect the movement of staff associated with these changes.

    Following the 2004 federal election, we issued comprehensive advice to agencies on the employment and workplace relations aspects of the machinery-of-government changes announced by the Prime Minister. This advice, which was prepared in consultation with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, is contained in circular 2004/5 and is available on our web site.

    Administrative re-arrangement casework

    The Commission handled 36 administrative re-arrangements during 2004–05. Significant changes included:

    We prepared and executed the necessary legislative instruments to give effect to these administrative re-arrangements to meet the timeframes set by the Government and by individual agencies.

    Other issues

    Other employment-related issues include delegations to outsiders, services provided on a fee-for-service basis, remuneration and workplace agreements, executive remuneration, public interest whistleblowing and the Whistling while they work project.

    Delegations to outsiders: Section 78(8) of the Public Service Act

    In order to delegate any powers under the Act to an outsider, that is, a person not employed under the Act, an agency head must obtain the Commissioner’s written consent before effecting any such delegations.

    During 2004–05, the Commissioner agreed to 11 requests for such consent, for delegation of powers to 10 named individuals. Each request was considered carefully, bearing in mind the views and recommendations of the Senate Standing Committee on the Scrutiny of Bills reflected in the Standing Orders. The Committee was concerned to ensure the proposed recipients of such delegated powers possessed the qualifications and attributes they would  need to exercise such powers appropriately.

    Employment-related services provided on a fee-for-service basis

    Under section 41(1)(k) of the Act, the Public Service Commissioner has authority to provide advice and assistance on request to agencies on public service matters. If this falls outside core business, services are usually provided on a fee-for-service basis.

    During the year, the overwhelming majority of work undertaken in response to requests for employment-related services involved recruitment and selection of staff. We provided convenors, panel members and support for selection advisory committees across a wide range of agencies. The Department of Defence and the Australian Taxation Office were two of the most frequent users of our services. Other fee-for-service activities included career counselling, alternative dispute resolution and projects on reviews of structures.

    Employment-related fee-for-service activities include those provided under the Merit Protection Commissioner’s functions, such as independent selection advisory committees. This work represented almost 60% of the total amount of selection work conducted by the Commission at the request of agencies. More details about such committees and other fee-for-service activities performed on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner can be found in the Merit Protection Commissioner’s annual report at Part 4 of this report.

    Remuneration and workplace agreements

    The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) provides the Commission with copies of the draft agency agreements so we can review specific elements of the Government’s Policy Parameters for Agreement Making in the APS (the policy parameters) for which the Commission is responsible.

    In 2004–05, we provided comments to DEWR on 32 draft APS agency agreements and six non-APS agreements. All agreements were assessed within the five-day assessment period following receipt, as agreed with DEWR.

    We also continued to provide good-practice advice to agencies on a range of issues included in their draft agreements that fall outside the policy parameters. The advice we provided during 2004–05 consisted of adherence to the Public Service Act 1999 framework, including broadbanding, merit and open competition, termination, the APS Values and Code of Conduct, management of under-performance and misconduct, and review processes.

    Executive remuneration

    The Commissioner and the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet provided advice to the Prime Minister on the performance of Secretaries during 2003–04. The Prime Minister considered that advice when determining performance bonuses for Secretaries. The Commissioner also provided advice to the relevant Minister on the performance of the executive agency heads during the year. The Prime Minister endorsed relevant Ministers’ determinations regarding performance bonuses for executive agency heads.

    Public interest whistleblowing

    The APS whistleblowing scheme is provided for by the Public Service Act 1999 and regulations. Section 16 of the Act prohibits victimisation of or discrimination against an APS employee who reports a breach or alleged breach of the Code of Conduct. The regulations require agency heads to establish procedures for dealing with such reports. The procedures must observe procedural fairness, comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and provide that APS employees in the agency may report breaches or alleged breaches of the Code to the agency head, the Public Service Commissioner or the Merit Protection Commissioner.

    Generally, disclosures should be made to the agency head, or a person authorised by the agency head, and investigated by the relevant APS agency. Where it is not appropriate for the agency head to deal with a particular matter or where the whistleblower is not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation by the agency, the whistleblower may refer the report to the Public Service Commissioner or Merit Protection Commissioner.

    Nineteen reports were sent to the Public Service Commissioner during 2004–05, seven more than the number received during 2003–04. Ten of these were from current employees, two were from former employees and seven were from private citizens.

    The Commissioner is conducting an inquiry into two of the reports from current employees and one from a private citizen, who was a former contract employee. The other 16 disclosures did not meet the criteria for investigation by the Commissioner.

    Where disclosures did not meet the criteria for consideration, advice was provided on the appropriate ways in which their concerns could be addressed either by referral to the relevant agency head or other administrative review bodies, such as the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner and the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.

    Whistling while they work project

    In November 2004, under its Linkage Project Scheme, the Australian Research Council approved funding for the Whistling while they work: enhancing the theory and management of internal witness management in public sector organisations project. The Commission is providing some small non-financial support for this three-year project that is being led by the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University. In the first half of 2005 Commission staff held discussions with the project team about the statutory framework and our experience of the operation of the APS scheme to date.

    Further information on whistleblowing is contained in the Merit Protection Commissioner’s annual report at Part 4 of this report.

    Table 8: Performance Information—Output 1.2.5—Provide other employment-related services
    Target Result
    Quantity
    Services to support any machinery-of-government changes, approval of delegations and case management of about 490 individual cases Exceeded: 599 cases and 11 consents to delegations to outsiders.
    Quality
    100% of machinery of government changes completed within legislative timeframes Achieved: 100% of 36 machinery of government changes effected within legislative timeframes
    100% of comments on draft agency agreements provided within agreed timelines Achieved: 100% of 38 comments on draft APS agency agreements provided within agreed timelines
    95% of approval of delegations to outsiders completed within 5 working days Not achieved: 82% of approval of delegations to outsiders completed within 5 working days of receipt, the remaining 2 cases required further information from the requesting agency before any decision could be made.
    A high level of satisfaction of clients with the accuracy, quality and timeliness of individual cases. Achieved: Client satisfaction with service delivery consistently high as evidenced by very positive feedback.
    Estimated price: $3.331 million Actual: $3.105 million
    Slightly lower than estimated price due to reallocation of funds to conducting reviews on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner in the regional offices

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    Provide other support services to the Commissioner

    Other support services to the Commissioner include research and speech writing and supporting the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

    Research and speech-writing services

    Major speeches and presentations by members of the Executive are critical to our engagement with agencies, and with external stakeholders. They also allow us to play an important representational role for the APS, and to test the Commission’s research and development work against international practice and academic study.

    During 2004–05, the Commissioner made 50 presentations, including eight major speeches, six presentations to individual agencies and 36 presentations to multi-agency forums. The Commissioner’s outreach and research roles were further enhanced when she joined the National Institute for Governance’s Advisory Board in April 2005.

    Speeches we wrote for the Commissioner during 2004–05 included:

    The Deputy Commissioner also made a number of major speeches and presentations including presenting papers at an OECD symposium on e-government and at a meeting of its Public Governance Committee in Paris, France.

    Australia and New Zealand School of Government

    The ANZSOG is a first-tier professional school established collaboratively by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand governments, universities and business schools. It aims 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, and on the ANZSOG Research Committee, by the Public Service Commissioner.

    The Commonwealth’s commitment to the school reflects the importance the Government places on ensuring a 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 developing ANZSOG to ensure it meets the needs of the APS and provides value for money.

    The ANZSOG Research Committee coordinates the school’s research priorities; its research programme is making a considerable contribution to the study of public administration and management in Australia.

    The Commonwealth is providing ANZSOG with $200,000 per year for three years (between 2003–04 and 2005–06), matched by the Australian National University (ANU), to establish a strong and relevant research programme focused on collaboration with participating institutions. Professor John Wanna commenced his appointment as the inaugural Sir John Bunting Professor of Public Administration in July 2004, and is leading and coordinating the research programme.

    Commonwealth funding has also established an executive officer position for ANZSOG Research to help develop research activities. Under the funding arrangements with ANZSOG and the ANU, there is a commitment to facilitate regular ANZSOG seminars and/or workshops, to sponsor PhD students, to develop and maintain an ANZSOG research web site, and to publish a regular research newsletter.

    In 2004–05, ANZSOG Research conducted two seminars and two workshops. The seminars comprised a speech by Dr Geoff Mulgan on priorities for government reform after an election, and a presentation by Professor Allen Schick on APS and New Zealand public sector financial management. The workshops dealt with academic–practitioner case study writing, and strategic cabinet processes. The Commission provided direct assistance for the former.

    A research agenda workshop is planned for the first half of 2005–06. ANZSOG produces a regular newsletter that includes a research contribution. The research division also produced an e-newsletter in March 2005.

    The Commonwealth provides administrative support to the ANZSOG–ANU public lecture series. Professor Rod Rhodes (23 February), the Hon. Bob McMullan MP (27 April) and the Public Service Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs, (29 June) delivered lectures in the first six months of 2005.

    The APS Research Advisory Committee, which is chaired by the Commissioner, consists of a group of senior executives nominated by their agencies. The committee determines the research interests and priorities of the APS and supports the Commissioner in advising ANZSOG.

    The Commission will continue to help ANZSOG develop a strong research function in 2005–06. It will also foster strong relations between the APS and the school. In November 2004, ANZSOG and its APS industry partners applied for Australian Research Council funding to undertake two research programmes of importance to the academic community and the APS. The service delivery application, focusing on improving decision making in government service delivery using third party providers, was successful.

    Table 9: Performance Information—Output 1.3.1—Provide other support services to the Commissioner
    Target Result
    Quantity
    Undertake research and draft speeches. Achieved:12 major speeches and presentations produced for Executive.
    Secretariat and administrative support for the research component of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) agreement. The Secretariat has built a strong working relationship with ANZSOG Research at the ANU.
    Quality
    A high level of satisfaction by the Commissioner with the relevance, quality and timeliness of the advice and services provided. Achieved: Papers and speeches prepared to relevant requirements of timeliness, research quality and, in accordance with growing demands, were increasingly analytical.
    A high level of satisfaction by the APS with the representation of APS interests in ANZSOG research activities. Achieved: APS Research Advisory Committee members were highly satisfied with Committee meetings, briefings provided by the Secretariat for ANZSOG Foundation Board and Research Committee meetings, and opportunities to contribute to the research agenda. Eight APS agencies are involved in preparing applications for ARC grant funding.
    Estimated price: $0.146 million Actual: $0.340 million
    Significantly higher than estimated due to reallocation of resources reflecting higher priority given to raising the profile of the Commission.

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    Price for Output 1

    The total price for Output 1 for 2004–05 was $7.978 million. This is higher than the estimated price of $7.231 million published in the Portfolio Budget Statements 2004–05.