Output 1 relates to the role of the Public Service Commissioner to provide advice on APS employment policy and provide employment-related services. In this part you will find: Output 1.1: Advice and support to Minister, Executive and agency heads Output 1.2: Employment services Output 1.3: International assistance and organisations Output 1.4: Merit protection and other services

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Performance review : APS policy and employment services
Output 1.1: Advice and support to Minister, Executive and agency heads

Output 1 is drawn from the statutory role of the Public Service Commissioner (the Commissioner) outlined within the Public Service Act 1999 (the Act). In particular, the Commissioner provides advice to Government and agency heads on Australian Public Service (APS) employment policy; conducts employment-related services with a focus on the Senior Executive Service (SES) and staff selection; and undertakes independent reviews of APS actions.

The output also relates to the Commission’s work in increasing the knowledge, skills and capability of identified Asia–Pacific public sector managers.

Achievements

The achievements under Output 1 this year include:

• completed a review of the Act for Government
• amended Public Service Regulation 2.1 dealing with disclosure of information by APS employees
• revised policies on the requirement for SES and other senior staff to declare their personal financial and other interest to give greater emphasis on relevance, timeliness and respect for privacy
• amended guidelines to deal more explicitly with the issue of bribery and the requirement for APS employees to report any instances of bribery that they observe in the course of their employment, particularly when working overseas
• assisted several new public service agencies to understand their responsibilities under the Act
• promoted and released good practice guides including:
  • Respect: promoting a culture free from harassment and bullying in the APS
  • Implementing Machinery of Government Changes: a good practice guide
• progressed the development of guidance about encouraging better practice approaches to governance in APS agencies
• facilitated and coordinated Australian APS agency work placements for Pacific scholarship participants to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government
• delivered the Pacific Public Sector Leadership Programme in Fiji and Samoa to delegates from 11 Pacific countries
• developed and initiated Pacific human resource managers network, including hosting the inaugural conference
• delivered a joint two day good practice workshop on public sector reform in partnership with the Indonesian Government
• delivered a new online lodgement process and public search system for the Public Service Gazette (the Gazette) in July 2006
• re-developed the Gazette into an interactive site APSjobs.gov.au ready for pilot testing in July 2007.

Price for output 1

The total price for Output 1 in 2006–07 was $14.233 million. This is $1.013 million higher than the estimated price of $13.220 million published in the Portfolio Budget Statements 2006–07.