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New name for Public Service and Merit Protection Commission
The Hon Tony Abbott MP
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service
The Government has decided on a change of name for the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission. It will now be known as the Australian Public Service Commission.
The new name has close resonance with the long history of the Public Service Commission and Public Service Board, and underlines the role of the Australian Public Service as a key institution in Australia's system of government.
It also reflects in a more balanced way the contemporary role of the Commission in the Australian Public Service. The Commission plays a broad quality assurance role to ensure the APS provides the service the country needs, and working with agencies to identify and promote better practice.
The Commission has a number of important legislative responsibilities in regard to the APS values and APS code of conduct.
The Public Service Commissioner's first two statutory responsibilities are evaluation of Agencies'arrangements for promoting the values and ensuring compliance with the Code. The APS values include the core responsibilities that make the APS a key institution of government: apolitical professionalism, the merit principle, responsiveness to the elected Government and public accountability. They also cover the relationships the APS should have with the public and appropriate workplace relations. Together with the code of conduct, the values define the personal ethical behaviours expected of APS employees.
The name change does not imply any downgrading of merit protection. Indeed the merit principle is one of the defining values of the APS.
I expect to announce the new Merit Protection Commissioner shortly.
I am looking to the Commission to increase its efforts to promote Indigenous employment in the APS, and to place greater emphasis on evaluation and working with agencies to promote better management practice.
For more information contact Simone Holzapfel on 0417 656 668.
