Public sector reform in the Asia–Pacific region In addition, the Commission deployed two SES officers for two years to Port Moresby to provide capacity building assistance to the Government of Papua New Guinea’s Department of Personnel Management. It also continued to provide assistance to Pacific nations through a range of mechanisms including the organisation of two month long work placements with APS agencies for four participants under the Pacific Islands Scholarships for Governance Programme. |
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Performance review : APS policy and employment services : Advice and support to Minister, Executive and agency heads : Employment services : International assistance and organisations
Output 1.4: Merit protection and other services
International assistance and organisations
The Commission delivers assistance to other governments and organisations in line with AusAID programmes and priorities to support public sector reform in the region. The Commission also hosts delegations of visiting officials.
| Target | Result |
|---|---|
| Quantity | |
| 1. Deliver high quality technical assistance overseas in line with records of understanding with AusAID-priorities: Pacific, PNG and Indonesia. | Achieved. Deployed two advisers with the Papua New Guinea public service and one adviser with the Indonesian public service. Jointly hosted a good practice workshop in Indonesia. Delivered the Pacific Leadership programme. Hosted a Pacific HR Managers network meeting. |
| 2. Share information, knowledge and skills with visiting officials in Australia. | Arranged study visits for twelve Indonesian officials. Hosted a visit by the Indonesian Minister for Administrative Services and three Indonesian agency heads. Placed four Pacific scholarship holders with agencies. |
| Number of overseas delegation visits coordinated and hosted—estimate 30. | Overestimated. The Commission coordinated and hosted 23 visiting delegations. |
| Quality | |
| 1. High level of satisfaction with the quality and timeliness of reports, advice and services provided. | Achieved. Direct positive feedback from recipients on quality of study visits and agency placements and from Pacific Commissioners and Papua New Guinea public service. |
| 2. A 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: $2.927 million | Actual price: $2.459 million |
Manage international responsibilities
The Commission continued to collaborate with AusAID to meet the Australian Government’s commitment of supporting countries in our region to establish professional, impartial public services. Partner countries in the region are able to benefit from Australia’s experience in public sector reform and its expertise in good governance. This helps to improve the quality and performance of public services for the benefit of the whole region.
The Commission delivers AusAID funded programmes consistent with its country-specific strategies.
Support public sector reform in the Pacific
A large component of the Commission’s international assistance programme in 2006–07 was conducted in the Pacific region. The Commission organised two-month long work placements with Australian government agencies for four participants under the Pacific Islands Scholarship for Governance Programme. In addition the Commission also delivered the Pacific Public Sector Leadership Programme to current and emerging leaders from eleven Pacific countries in Fiji (current leaders) and Samoa (emerging leaders).
| Pacific Public Sector Leadership Programme for emerging leaders - group portrait, Samoa, May 2007 |  |
The Commission hosted a successful inaugural meeting of the Pacific human resource manager’s network in Canberra with eleven Pacific human resource managers in attendance. Participants discussed human resource issues affecting the region and identified areas where information could be shared to assist all Pacific countries to address these issues in a more informed way.
Under AusAID’s Enhanced Cooperation Program, the Commission continued to deploy two SES Commission employees to the Papua New Guinea Government’s Department of Personnel Management to assist build capacity in relation to strategic human resource and industrial relations.
Assistance to civil service reform in Indonesia
Since 2006, the Commission has worked directly with three central Indonesian civil service agencies, the Civil Service Agency, the State Administrative Agency and the National Institute for Administration, on a range of public sector reform and capacity building initiatives, through the deployment of an Australian APS official to Jakarta. This work is funded through AusAID under its Government Partnership Fund.
Over the financial year, the Commission continued to provide assistance by hosting a range of activities including:
- a study visit for 12 officials from the Indonesian Civil Service Agency in July 2006 on a range of leadership and public service management issues
- a visit by the Indonesian Minister for Administrative Services, Mr Taufiq Effendi and the heads of three counterpart agencies in August 2006. The visit provided an understanding of Australia’s public sector reform experience, particularly in relation to management of the public service
- a two-day good practice workshop on public sector reform and service delivery in Jakarta jointly hosted by the Commission and Minister for Administrative Reform. The Commissioner delivered the workshop’s keynote address. The workshop was accompanied by an exhibition that showcased examples of good public service delivery practices.
| Ms Lynne Tacy, Deputy Public Service Commissioner and Mr Taufiq Effendi, Indonesian Minister for Administrative Services, August 2006 |  |
Attendance at international conferences
In 2006–07, the Commissioner attended the following international events:
- Australia New Zealand Central Agencies meeting, 13–16 February 2007, in Wellington, New Zealand
- joint Commission and Indonesian Government two day good practice workshop, National Workshop on reforming the civil service for improving services to the public, 12–13 March 2007, in Jakarta
- a special session to develop Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management’s (CAPAM) 2008–10 Strategic Plan, 16 April 2007 and a CAPAM Board of Director’s meeting, 17 April 2007, in Cape Town, South Africa
- a joint CAPAM—South African Department of Public Service and Administration seminar, Building the academic/practitioner interface in South African public administration, 18–19 April 2007, in Cape Town, South Africa.
In her role as the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynne Tacy attended the 35th OECD Public Governance Committee from 12–13 April 2007.
The then Merit Protection Commissioner, Mr Jeff Lamond PSM, also attended the Seminar on the modernisation of the public service organised by the Government of New Caledonia, in Noumea, from 21–24 August 2006, where he delivered a speech on the Australian reform experience.
The Group Manager, Corporate Group, Ms Karin Fisher, attended the 34th OECD Public Governance Committee in Paris, from 30–31 October 2006.
The Group Manager, Better Practice Group, Ms Clare Page, attended the Public service reform conference held by the UK National School of Government in London on 27 March 2007.
Hosting visits by overseas delegations
In 2006–07, twenty-three overseas delegations visited the Commission to discuss public sector reform and the role and responsibilities of the Commission and the Commissioner. Asia accounted for 70 per cent of the visits while China remainedthe country with the largest number of visits (five) during 2006–07.
Other Asian visitors included: India; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia; Mongolia; Thailand; and Vietnam. The remaining visits were from: Chile; Kazakhstan; New Caledonia; Nigeria; Solomon Islands; and representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
During the year, the regional offices of the Commission hosted 11 of the visiting delegations, mostly from the Asia–Pacific regions.
