Introduction

Foreword

The Australian Public Service (APS) is a national institution that plays an important role in the Australian democratic system of Government. It is internationally recognised as being at the leading edge of good public administration.

Agency heads in the Australian Public Service are responsible for providing leadership to their organisations by creating a realistic vision and a strategic focus, motivating others, articulating a clear direction and cultivating productive relationships with stakeholders. Agency heads have particular responsibility for due process, including compliance with the requirements of financial management law, anti-discrimination law, employment-related law and administrative law as well as specific legislation their agency may be responsible for administering.

They operate in a unique legislative and policy environment that provides frameworks for:

• agency decision making, accountability and management
• effective policy development and efficient service delivery.

Agency heads have an important role in providing advice, implementing Government decisions and meeting Government objectives within a whole of Government context. They are entrusted to continue building on the achievements of the past and improving the performance of the public service. In doing so they must ensure the efficient, effective and ethical use of Australian Government resources and operate within the framework of the APS Values.

This publication is designed to assist agency heads to meet their obligations and responsibilities. It will be of particular value to those newly appointed to such duties, by providing them with concise information about the key elements of the legislative and policy framework within which agency heads operate. It will also be of considerable assistance to many senior managers in the Australian Public Service because it is the single authoritative statement of agency head responsibilities.

Information in this publication covers a wide range of agency head responsibilities, including accountability requirements, the financial management framework, the employment and workplace relations framework, and the management of Government information.

Guidance is also provided on other resources that agency heads and their advisers may find useful to draw on in their duties or as source documents.

This internet-based resource provides links to relevant legislation, policies and agency websites.

The information contained in this publication is not intended to replace legal and other professional advice on specific matters. As further changes to the operating environment are likely to occur, it is important that organisations seek current information on all matters. To assist in this, the internet resource will be updated on a regular basis.

The maintenance of content depends on the ongoing cooperation of many contributing agencies. and I would like to acknowledge their input. In particular, my thanks are extended to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; the Department of Finance and Deregulation; the Australian National Audit Office; the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; Attorney-General’s Department; the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy; the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs; the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts; the Department of Health and Ageing; the Department of Immigration and Citizenship: the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Australian Government Solicitor; the Australian War Memorial; Geoscience Australia and the Productivity Commission.

Specific enquiries about issues raised should be directed to the responsible agency.

Lynelle Briggs
Public Service Commissioner

Introduction

This guide provides information on the key responsibilities of Australian Public Service (APS) agency heads who are also chief executives under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act). Heads of agencies that are not subject to the FMA Act, and heads of non-APS Australian Government bodies may also find this Guide useful as a starting point to consider their statutory and Government policy obligations. It includes links to relevant policies, legislation and agency websites. The emphasis is primarily on the legislative and related Australian Government policy obligations of agency heads that apply in the context of agency head responsibility for managing the agency. Less emphasis has been placed on legislative and Government policy obligations that affect specific programme responsibilities of agencies.

This publication is designed to assist Australian Public Service (APS) agency heads subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and their advisers. Agency heads include a Secretary of a Department of State, the head of an executive agency, and the head of a statutory agency. Departments of State, executive agencies and most statutory agencies (collectively referred to as agencies for the purposes of this publication) are also ‘prescribed agencies’ for the purposes of the FMA Act. This guidance is therefore targeted towards agency heads who are also FMA Act chief executives.

The APS, as defined in the Public Service Act 1999, consists of agency heads (the secretaries of Departments of State, the heads of executive agencies and the heads of statutory agencies) and APS employees.

There are more than 80 agencies subject to the Public Service Act. These are classified as Departments of State, executive agencies or statutory agencies.

• Departments of State are established, under the Constitution, by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister. Secretaries of Departments are appointed by the Prime Minister for a period of up to 5 years (section 58(1) of the Public Service Act).
• Executive agencies are non-statutory bodies established by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister. The agency head is appointed by, and directly accountable to, the Minister responsible for the agency. The Executive agency structure provides a degree of separation from departmental management where that is appropriate to the functions of the agency and where a statutory authority is not warranted.
• Statutory agencies are bodies or groups of persons declared by an Act to be a Statutory agency for the purposes of the Public Service Act. The enabling legislation also sets out the arrangements for the appointment and termination of the agency head and their specific powers, responsibilities and accountability requirements.

For the current list of APS agencies, see the Australian Public Service Commission document APS agencies.

Departments of State, executive agencies and moststatutory agencies1 (collectively referred to as agencies for the purposes of this Guide) are also ‘prescribed agencies’ for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act).

The various legislative and policy obligations of agency heads provide a basis for decision making, accountability and agency management. However, not all obligations that an agency head may have are covered by this Guide.

• For example, agency heads are required to comply with general Australian law. This guide does not provide comprehensive information on all legal obligations. It focuses on those obligations that are more closely related to the APS environment or to other laws that apply in the APS environment.
• In addition, heads of a statutory agency will also have obligations under their enabling legislation.

Agency heads not subject to the FMA Act, while often having the same employment obligations under the Public Service Act, may have a different range of financial and operational responsibilities.¹  Heads of agencies that are not subject to the FMA Act, and heads of non-APS Australian Government bodies may also find this publication useful as a starting point to consider statutory and Government policy obligations.

The legislative and policy framework provides a basis for agency head decision making, accountability and agency management and underpins the way in which agency heads must meet Government objectives and implement Government decisions.

The information provided by this guide is not intended to replace legal advice or specific advice from the responsible agency.

Governance

The generally accepted principles of public sector governance, as articulated by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)², include:

• accountability—being answerable for decisions and having meaningful mechanisms in place to ensure adherence to all applicable standards
• transparency—clear roles and responsibilities and clear procedures for decision making and the exercise of power
• integrity—acting impartially, ethically and in the interests of the agency, and not misusing information acquired through a position of trust
• stewardship—using every opportunity to enhance the value of the public assets and institutions that have been entrusted to care
• efficiency—the best use of resources to further the aims of the organisations with a commitment to evidence-based strategies for improvement
• leadership—leadership from the top is critical to achieving an agency-wide commitment to good governance.

In the complex environment in which APS agency heads operate, an agency head does not personally make every decision or exercise every power that is vested in him or her by legislation but this may be exercised by a delegate. In other cases an agency head may be making decisions as a delegate or under an authorisation (more information on authorisation and delegation is provided in Chapter 2).

A key role for an agency head is to devise an approach to governance that enables the agency to adhere to its corporate goals in a manner consistent with applicable legal and policy obligations.

Elements of good public sector governance need to be applied within a framework which may differ considerably according to the size, complexity, structure and legislative background of the agency concerned. Common features of such a system, however, include4:

• strong leadership, culture and communication
• appropriate governance committee structures
• clear accountability mechanisms
• working effectively across organisational boundaries
• comprehensive risk management, compliance and assurance systems
• strategic planning, performance monitoring and evaluation
• flexible and evolving principles-based systems.

Further information can be found in the Commision’s publication, Building Better Governance.

Agency head relationship with the Government and Parliament

An agency head has a responsibility for managing the agency’s relationship with the responsible Minister and through him or her, with the Government.

Ministers and Governments as the elected representatives of the Australian people determine and define public interest. Agency heads advise and implement—assisting Governments to deliver their policy agenda and priorities.

Under the Australian system, Ministers are responsible to Parliament for the overall administration of their portfolios; for the carriage of new legislation through Parliament; and for answering questions on that portfolio when required.

This does not mean that they should, or could, be aware of every action of their department or portfolio agencies. The degree of their involvement depends on the Minister’s own preference and overall workload, and the relationship between the Minister and his or her agency head. It also depends on the nature of the issue.

One of the important roles that an agency head has is to ensure that the Minister is aware of important or sensitive administrative issues, or issues that could impact on the Minister’s policy responsibility.

The principles of apoliticism, impartiality, professionalism, responsiveness and accountability are at the heart of strong, productive relationships between the APS and the elected Government. These Values need to be considered together as a set. Most of the time they complement each other. At times, they need to be balanced so that no single Value is pressed to the point that it conflicts directly with another.³

Agency heads are also required to be responsive to Government. Responsiveness to the Government demands a willingness and capacity to be effective and efficient. Responsiveness requires robust, honest, comprehensive, accurate and timely advice. It requires carrying out Government decisions and implementing programmes within the framework of the APS Values which require the efficient, effective and ethical use of Australian Government resources.

Leadership

Every agency head is the custodian of a degree of power and resources which are entrusted to him or her under the Australian system of Government.

The leadership role of agency heads is integral to good public sector governance and building the relationships that underpin effective agency performance.

An agency head is responsible for providing leadership to his or her agency by creating a realistic vision and a strategic focus, motivating others, articulating a clear direction and cultivating productive relationships with stakeholders. One of the challenges that the APS currently faces is the ageing of its workforce. An emerging challenge for agency heads is effective succession planning.

Agency heads in particular can be expected to play a special role in providing consistent leadership and model best practice collegiate behaviour. A portion of the core business of every agency involves working across agency boundaries. Agency heads therefore have a key role in influencingbehaviour and attitudes of the APS towards collaboration across organisational boundaries.

Whole of Government

The Management Advisory Committee Report, Connecting Government: Whole of Government Responses to Australia’s Priority Challenges⁴ defined ‘whole of Government’ in the APS as:

Whole of Government denotes public service agencies working across portfolio boundaries to achieve a shared goal and an integrated Government response to particular issues. Approaches can be formal and informal. They can focus on policy development, programme management and service delivery.

Agency heads play an important role in the way that they foster a culture that supports, models, understands and aspires to whole of Government solutions. A commitment to a whole of Government perspective involves the challenge to ensure that collective decision making of the Australian Government is based upon the best informed articulation of the challenges faced and a strategic assessment of the relative merits of different approaches to how they might be addressed. A commitment to collegiality amongst APS agency heads is a key part of the culture that supports whole of Government solutions.

In addition, agency heads have recently taken steps to emphasise the importance of working across organisational barriers to achieve policy and service delivery objectives. There is a strong level of commitment. However the implementation of a whole of Government approach requires some assistance. The Working Together publication is a brief and practical guide on how members of the APS should work together. This guide was prepared and endorsed by all agency heads.

Collegiate leadership is fostered partly by formal structures including the participation of Secretaries in a range of regular meetings. The Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet chairs a monthly meeting of portfolio secretaries to discuss various issues of mutual interest (the Portfolio Secretaries Meeting). The Secretary also chairs frequent meetings of the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security (SCNS) and the Secretaries’ Group on Indigenous Issues. The groups involve the relevant portfolio secretaries, agency heads and (on SCNS) the Chief of the Defence Force.

The Secretary of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations chairs a regular meeting of secretaries and some agency heads to exchange information on workplace relations issues and agreement making (the APS Roundtable).

At a more strategic level, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet chairs the Management Advisory Committee (MAC)—a forum of secretaries and invited agency heads established under section 64 of the Public Service Act to advise the Government on matters relating to the management of the APS. While MAC does not have any statutory powers or executive functions, it provides a forum for secretaries and agency heads to discuss significant issues of topical and long-term interest to the APS.

As was highlighted in the Management Advisory Committee Report, Connecting Government: Whole of Government Responses to Australia’s Priority Challenges, agency heads need to be responsible for driving cooperative behaviours. They are expected to actively champion whole of Government projects where there are clear benefits and to model critical behaviours such as collegiality. As Dr Shergold, former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,⁵ -  said when launching the report:

Whole of Government is the public administration of the future. It offers links and connections to the global community of ideas, knowledge and understanding essential for the APS to face the governance challenges of the 21st century.

This reinforces the role of agency heads in influencing the behaviour and attitudes of the APS towards collaboration across organisational boundaries.

The Australian Public Service environment

The APS is a national institution that plays an important role in the Australian democratic system of Government. It is internationally recognised as being at the leading edge of good public administration.

Differences arise between the public sector and the private sector due to the different purposes of public and private sectors, the different political environments in which they operate and the different accountability requirements. The principles of public sector governance, the scale and complexity of operations, and the extent of public scrutiny coupled with increasing lateral recruitment of staff from the private sector at all levels in the APS mean that accessible information for agency heads and their advisers is critical.

This publication comes at a time when it is expected that there will be loss of corporate knowledge due to an ageing workforce. It is envisaged that the publication will be a useful addition to an agency’s resource base and will be of assistance to agency heads managing large or small agencies and may be particularly useful to new agency heads.

It is not possible to cover all the details of agency head obligations in this publication. For example, agency heads are required to comply with general State, Territory and Commonwealth law. Comprehensive information is not provided on all legal obligations but on those that are most closely related to the APS environment or to other laws that apply in the APS environment.

In addition, heads of statutory agencies will also have obligations under their enabling legislation.

The following chapters contain information on key APS agency head obligations. The emphasis of the guide is primarily on the legislative and related Government policy obligations of APS agency heads that apply in the context of agency head responsibilities for managing an agency subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. Less emphasis has been placed on legislative and Government policy obligations that affect programme responsibilities of agencies.