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Improving APS Values

Refining the Australian Public Service Values

In March this year, the Advisory Group on Reform of Australian Government Administration released its report Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration (the Blueprint). The Government has accepted all of the Advisory Group’s recommendations in full.

To support the overall reforms, and particularly as part of the commitment to reinvigorate strategic leadership, the Blueprint proposed to revise the Australian Public Service (APS) Values and embed them Service-wide. The objective behind the proposal was to create ‘a smaller set of core values that are meaningful, memorable and effective in driving change.’

The Australian Public Service Commission is seeking your views on what a smaller set of APS Values might look like and has developed the attached paper to provoke discussion.

A key question in the paper is:

What behaviours do we want in the APS?

1. What behaviours:

    a)  should be encouraged to drive the required performance improvement identified by the Blueprint?

    b)  promote the integrity of the Australian Public Service?

    c)  should be fundamental to all Australian Public Service employees no matter where they work?

    d)  reinforce the professionalism of the Australian Public Service?

To start the discussion the Blueprint proposed the following qualities: accountable; frank, impartial and non-partisan; results-oriented; ethical; and merit-based employment.

You may wish to read some or all of the paper which covers:

How to comment or make a submission

An online discussion forum has been established for APS employees who have a .gov.au email address. The forum will be open from 30 June to 2 August 2010 and can be found at www.apsc.gov.au/ourvalues.

APS employees who do not have .gov.au email address and other stakeholders may send comments and submissions to ourvalues@apsc.gov.au.

 

Steve Sedgwick

Australian Public Service Commissioner

June 2010

Refining the Australian Public Service Values—A discussion paper

Through gradual evolution and the considered embrace of new directions, the Australian Public Service has adapted to meet the various tests it has faced over time. Now it must change again to meet the challenges of a new century and stay ahead of the game…

Ultimately it is people, not systems, who produce excellence and drive change. And it is our own people who will make the Australian Public Service what it legitimately aspires to be: the best public service in the world.[1]

Background

In September last year, the then Prime Minister established an Advisory Group to review Australian Government administration and develop a Blueprint for Australian Public Service (APS) reform. The Advisory Group met six times, received more than 200 submissions, and received feedback from six forums with Australian Government public servants and four online forums involving the wider public. It presented its Blueprint, Ahead of the Game, to the Government in March this year. The Government has accepted all of its recommendations.

Challenges for the APS

The Blueprint identified a number of challenges for the APS, including: increasing citizen expectations of government; the pace of technological change; a tightening labour market and increasing competition for talent; a contested market for high quality and innovative policy ideas; and increasing pressure to deliver in emerging areas and in tight timeframes.

The Blueprint also recognised that the APS needs to improve its performance by:

  • simplifying and integrating government’s interactions with citizens, including decreasing the regulatory burden on business
  • introducing greater openness, innovation and opportunities for collaboration in strategic policy development
  • driving cultural change to support the uptake of emerging technologies for more effective services and engagement with citizens
  • strengthening the support for and accountability of APS leaders
  • clarifying the roles of APS employees and addressing current capability gaps across the service
  • placing a stronger emphasis on the importance of professional development for all employees, and
  • improving efficiency and reducing internal red tape.

Directions for reform

The Advisory Group recommended nine interdependent reforms to equip the APS to meet the challenges it identified. Among other things, the reforms seek to:

  • Deliver better services for citizens—making services for citizens better integrated and more appropriate to their life experiences and needs. 
  • Create more open government—enabling citizens to collaborate on policy and service design. The Blueprint recommends that the Australian Government become more open and that public sector data be more widely available, consistent with privacy and secrecy laws.
  • Enhance policy capability—strengthen the APS’ capacity to undertake rigorous research, gather and analyse data, and provide the highest-quality strategic policy advice, supported by a greater focus on policy implementation, through improved guidance, greater networking between service delivery agencies and implementation governance boards to oversee high risk projects.
  • Reinvigorate strategic leadership—clarifying the roles and responsibilities of Secretaries, supporting them in these roles and holding them more accountable for meeting their responsibilities.
  • Ensure agency agility, capability and effectiveness—reviewing agencies to assess institutional effectiveness, to assess strategy, leadership, workforce capability, delivery and organisational effectiveness.
  • Improve agency efficiency—reviewing the mechanisms used to drive efficiency, considering the measurement of efficiency and strengthening governance.

Using the APS Values to drive performance

To support these reforms, and particularly as part of the commitment to reinvigorate strategic leadership, the Blueprint proposed to reformulate the APS Values and embed them Service-wide.  The objective behind the proposal was to create ‘a smaller set of core values that are meaningful, memorable and effective in driving change.’  In particular, the Advisory Group asked the Government to consider revising the APS Values to:

  • promote APS collegiality and unity
  • encourage excellence in public service
  • clarify expectations of public service behaviour to foster public trust, and
  • affirm the importance of including consideration of human rights issues in policy making.

Five qualities were suggested as a starting point for discussion:

  • Accountable
  • Frank, impartial and non-partisan
  • Results oriented
  • Ethical
  • Merit-based employment.

The full text of the recommendation can be found at www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/aga_reform/aga_reform_blueprint/part4.4.cfm.

What do we mean by values and codes of conduct?

The terms values, principles, and ethics are often used interchangeably when talking about organisational or individual behaviour.  Put simply, ethics is the theoretical study of how one ought to behave—what is right or good—whereas values are things that we believe have worth[2] and should guide our actions in practice.

Principles have an ordinary meaning of ‘accepted or professed rule of action or conduct’[3] and are similar to values.

Values can be intrinsic or instrumental i.e. worthy in themselves or as a means to an end. They can, but do not need to have, an obvious ethical basis:  fairness, accountability or honesty are classic examples of ethically-based values whereas the issue is less clear cut for values such as results-focused or innovation.

A code of conduct describes the types of behaviour that are acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace[4], or in a profession, and can be used as the basis of an administrative disciplinary system.

Organisational values may be purely aspirational or aimed at concrete behaviours. The more attainable organisational values are the more accessible, practical and, ultimately, enforceable they become. If values are not enforceable there is a greater risk of them becoming irrelevant.

How are values useful?

Leads to high performance

Well developed and defined organisational values should help employees to do their jobs well.  By guiding decision-making and behaviour they can underpin the wide range of interactions and professional relationships employees have with others in their day-to-day work. Values also contribute to an organisation’s strategic direction and can be highly motivating for employees.

This is confirmed by research showing that where organisational values are ethically-based and accompanied by a sound financial model, a values-based approach leads to high organisational performance.  Executives in organisations in all walks of life increasingly see attention to values as an integral and important part of effective management leading to high levels of employee engagement, performance and the capacity to attract and retain talented staff. [5]

A values approach to decision-making is particularly useful in rapidly changing environments[6].  Rather than a restrictive rules-based approach that may not be appropriate to circumstances as they arise, values can provide the flexibility to deal correctly with almost any situation.

Shapes community expectations

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), values form the foundation of public service and guide judgement about what is proper and improper in serving the public interest. Values stated in public documents shape citizens’ expectations about the mission, vision and daily activities of public sector organisations.  There is also a growing recognition that public servants are not solely motivated by financial rewards for performance and that public service values play a role in promoting the performance and integrity of government.[7]

Makes clear what we stand for

If fully integrated, values have an immense capacity to shape the overall culture of the organisation[8] and provide it with core statements of ‘who we are’.  In an organisation as disparate as the APS, they can provide a set of unifying themes that recognise that no matter how different agencies are, and the kinds of work in which staff are engaged, there are fundamental commonalities that bind the service in the way work is approached and delivered to a variety of clients.

In this context, while values may change over time to meet the changing needs of the community, public sector values should not be seen as shifting so often that they have no meaning for stakeholders.  Values for the APS need to be carefully developed, including with the long term in mind.

Articulates professionalism

Finally, values can also reinforce an organisation’s professionalism.  A distinguishing mark of a profession is that it has a code of values, or ethics, which its practitioners share and which guides the way in which those professionals carry out their work.  For example, there are codes of ethics in health care, law, accounting and increasingly in business.  For individual public servants, being professional means being both competent at one’s job as well as having high standards of integrity. The APS Values aim to draw this together service-wide.

Key Question

1. What behaviours:

  1. should be encouraged to drive the required performance improvement identified by the Blueprint?
  2. promote the integrity of the Australian Public Service?
  3. should be fundamental to all Australian Public Service employees no matter where they work?
  4. reinforce the professionalism of the Australian Public Service?

What is our current framework?

The APS Values, set out in section 10 (1) the Public Service Act 1999, are as follows:

  1. The APS is apolitical, performing its functions in an impartial and professional manner
  2. The APS is a public service in which employment decisions are based on merit
  3. The APS provides a workplace that is free from discrimination and recognises and utilises the diversity of the Australian community it serves
  4. The APS has the highest ethical standards
  5. The APS is openly accountable for its actions, within the framework of Ministerial responsibility to the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public
  6. The APS is responsive to the Government in providing frank, honest, comprehensive, accurate and timely advice and in implementing the Government's policies and programs
  7. The APS delivers services fairly, effectively, impartially and courteously to the Australian public and is sensitive to the diversity of the Australian public
  8. The APS has leadership of the highest quality
  9. The APS establishes workplace relations that value communication, consultation, co-operation and input from employees on matters that affect their workplace
  10. The APS provides a fair, flexible, safe and rewarding workplace
  11. The APS focuses on achieving results and managing performance
  12. The APS promotes equity in employment
  13. The APS provides a reasonable opportunity to all eligible members of the community to apply for APS employment
  14. The APS is a career-based service to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of Australia's democratic system of government
  15. The APS provides a fair system of review of decisions taken in respect of employees.

According to the Explanatory Memorandum to the Public Service Bill 1999 the APS Values were designed, among other things, to articulate the culture and operating ethos of the APS and to reflect public expectations of the relationship between the government, parliament and the Australian community.

To help employees remember the Values the Australian Public Service Commission has found it useful in training and guidance material to group them under four general headings of the relationships they affect:

  • Relationship with the government and the parliament (Group 1)
  • Relationship with the public (Group 2)
  • Workplace relationships (Group 3)
  • Personal behaviours (Group 4)

For example values a), e) and f) are largely about the relationship between the APS and the government and would sit in Group 1.

While helpful to understanding the Values, these groups are not perfect. There are overlaps between the groupings and some Values, e.g. the APS has the highest ethical standards, arguably apply across these boundaries.

One important feature of the existing values-set is that they sometimes raise internal tensions, e.g. between responsiveness to the Government and the requirement to be apolitical and impartial in the performance of functions. These tensions require balanced judgment to manage, but without them, public service behaviour might be weighted too much towards one or another extreme.

APS Code of Conduct

The fifteen APS Values are complemented by an APS Code of Conduct.  The APS Code of Conduct sets out the standard of behaviour expected by all APS employees and Agency Heads and acts as the basis for determining whether an employee has committed misconduct. Sanctions, set out in the Act, may be imposed for a breach of the Code. The APS Code of Conduct is at Attachment A.

One element of the Code of Conduct provides that APS employees must ‘at all times behave in a way that upholds the APS Values and the integrity and good reputation of the APS’, ensuring the enforceability of the APS Values.  A failure to meet the Values is, by implication, a breach of the Code.

Responsibilities of leaders

Agency heads have a responsibility under the Act to promote the APS Values (s12) and are bound by the Code (s14). Senior Executive Service (SES) employees have a similar responsibility under s35 to promote the APS Values and comply with the Code by personal example and other appropriate means.

The Public Service Commissioner is required to issue binding Directions on each of the APS Values for the purpose of ensuring that the APS incorporates and upholds the APS Values, and for determining, where necessary, their scope and application.

These legislative obligations reflect the findings of research showing that the role of leaders is critical to a values-based system.  Because values-based decision-making is intended to operate flexibly, values statements and codes of conduct are unlikely to have any credibility within an organisation if senior management does not actively model them[9]. The most effective way of undermining values is for leaders to contradict them silently by their own behaviour.

Agency values

Lessons from agency values

Some APS agencies have supplemented the APS Values with their own statements of values or principles that help to define the nature of their organisation, the culture of their workplaces, and the expectations of the behaviour of their employees.  They are not legally binding in the same way as the APS Values, but the fact that agencies have them may indicate there is a demand within the APS which is not met directly by the existing APS Values.  

A recurring theme among many agency-specific values seems to be the idea of respect for others, in both internal and external relationships, which includes notions of valuing ideas and working collaboratively. For example:

  • Two of the Department of the Treasury’s six values are ‘values teamwork, consultation and sharing ideas’ and ‘treat everyone with respect’. See www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1308/PDF/Who%20We%20Are%202009_W.pdf.
  • The Department of Defence has a value of ‘Teamwork’ which includes as a description ‘we foster collaborative workplaces, communicate openly and solve problems in a collegiate manner, share ideas and take advantage of the diversity of our knowledge and experience’. See www.defence.gov.au/publications/defence_values.pdf.
  • The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has developed a set of principles to guide the way that its staff work together, including the statement that ‘we show respect for our clients, stakeholders and each other by being fair, honest, objective, professional and polite’.
  • Centrelink has ‘Respect for customers and each other’ as one of its four core values. See www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/about_us/strategic_directions.htm#values.
  • The Department of Finance has six valued behaviours the first of which is ‘Nurtures productive working relationships’ which it describes, among other things, as encapsulating teamwork, respect for colleagues, and nurturing internal and external relationships. See www.finance.gov.au/about-the-department/finance-valued-behaviours.html.

The Blueprint recognises the need to develop service delivery approaches that support cross-agency (and inter-jurisdictional) institutional arrangements, and to improve and refocus the capacity of the APS to achieve results for the community.

The requirement to work collaboratively with stakeholders was also pressed by Terry Moran, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in a speech last year:

[Public servants] must respond swiftly—sometimes instantly—to government demands for action. They must think in terms of outcomes, rather than processes. They must get out of their silos, abandon turf wars, and work collaboratively across departments, with State and Territory governments and with the private sector.

They must tackle challenges that are increasingly complex, often global in nature, and do not respect borders, let alone the demarcations of government departments... .[10]

These concepts could be implicit within the idea of a results-oriented service, a quality suggested by the Advisory Group, but they could also be of sufficient importance to the contemporary needs of the APS to warrant separate articulation.

Risks of agency values

If revised APS Values are well developed and defined there may not be a need for agency-specific values. Agency-specific could confuse employees as to the ‘real values’ and may diminish the APS Values and hence their effect. They may also displace the agency’s identity as part of the APS.

Key Questions

2. Should qualities commonly found in agency-specific values, i.e. respect for others and working collaboratively with stakeholders be part of a core APS value-set? If so, could they be included with the concept of a results-oriented APS or is it something different?

3. Is there any place for agency-specific values once the APS Values are revised? If so, how can agency values be used to help drive the collective performance of the APS and avoid detracting from the idea of a unified public service?

Other public services

A number of other countries with similar Westminster systems, and the major Australian jurisdictions, also have principles, values and codes setting out the standards of behaviour required of public servants.  A comparison of the frameworks is at Attachment B.

While there are differing practices in the way these values are described and enforced there are some common themes:

  • Most values-sets are enforceable through legislation or as a condition of employment.
  • Most jurisdictions have opted for a short set of values or principles, accompanied by some form of explanatory material.
  • The terms ‘integrity’, ‘impartiality’, ‘fairness’ and ‘respect’ are found in the values and principles of many of the jurisdictions.
  • Many values-sets are outward facing leaving principles around internal, workplace relationships to be spelled out elsewhere.

In relation to the last point, the Advisory Group has suggested the quality of merit-based employment for discussion about a new set of APS Values. Since the release of the Northcote-Trevelyan report in 1854, one of the key tenets of public service in the Westminster tradition has been the importance of merit-based employment.  It has had different names, and been cast to reflect the language and issues of the day. But whether it is described as a prohibition against patronage and favouritism, or whether it supports an understanding of the importance of diversity in the workplace, the animating principle has been that the public will be best served if jobs in the public service are filled by the best available people.

There is, nonetheless, a question mark about whether to include merit in a values statement when the concept begs a clear definition, including how and in what circumstances it will be applied. If this principle is not part of a revised APS values-set where should it be appropriately identified to provide whole of service coverage?

Trends in public sector values of OECD members

The OECD has charted the shift in member countries public sector values over the past decade by type of value.

Frequently stated core public service values 2000 and 2009

chart

Source: OECD Survey on Integrity (2000 and 2009)

While impartiality’ and ‘legality’ remain the leading types of values, the number of countries identifying ‘transparency’ as a core value has almost doubled in the past decade with efficiency also being increasingly identified as a core value by member countries[11]. Nevertheless, impartiality remains the most frequently stated public service value appearing in nearly all member countries’ core values-sets in 2009.

The role of the public service is to serve the Government of the day: to provide the same high standard of policy advice, implementation and professional support, irrespective of which political party is in power, is at the core of the professionalism of the APS[12].  However concerns have arisen periodically about whether at least some interpret impartiality as requiring that they only tell the Government what they think the Government wants to hear, or only present policy advice that is thought to be acceptable to the Government.

The former Prime Minister has said:

We cannot afford a public service culture where all you do is tell the Government what you think the Government wants to hear…  The Government must receive the best advice, based on the best available information and evidence. Public servants will not give frank and fearless advice if they think their career prospects or the continuity of their employment rest on them simply echoing a Government’s own prejudices. [13]

There are also questions around whether a value of this kind should be limited to relations between the APS and the Government. In an environment where the APS delivers services to the community, makes decisions about entitlements, and is being encouraged to engage more fully with citizens as we move increasingly to citizen-centric models it could have a broader application.

The Blueprint has also asked the Government to consider revising to the APS Values to affirm the importance of including consideration of human rights issues in policy making which could broaden even further the scope of this value.

Key Questions

4. What lessons can be learned from the frameworks and values-sets of other public services both overseas and in Australia?

5. Could the APS Values be simplified by setting out essential concepts elsewhere in the Public Service Act? For example, values that relate to workplace relationships could be set out in employment principles.

6. How should we deal with merit?  Is it so fundamental to the way the APS does its work that it should continue to be part of the revised APS Values? If not, where should it be appropriately identified?

7. What do we mean by an impartial public service? How broad should this value be?

Perceived shortcomings with the current framework

The results of the employee survey conducted for the State of the Service Report 2008-09 indicate that APS employees have high levels of awareness of the APS Values and Code of Conduct. Ninety-two per cent of employees surveyed said they were familiar with the APS Values and 93% of employees reported familiarity with the APS Code of Conduct. However, awareness does not necessarily translate into a good understanding of the values, or even an ability to recall them.

Too complex and difficult to remember and could be more aligned with the contemporary business of government

Within the submissions made to the Advisory Group one group of respondents, largely individuals, considered the current Values are about right and continue, for example, ‘to serve the APS and APS employees well’.  But two other common themes were that:

  1. the content of the current Values is broadly right, but the language is too complex and difficult to remember and apply, and would benefit from being streamlined, and
  2. the current Values need to be reconsidered to include different values that are more closely aligned to the contemporary business of government. This theme was dominated by submissions from APS agencies.

Duplication and overlap

Some of the APS Values have overlapping concepts such as fairness (Value j) and equity (Value l).  There is also some overlap with the Code of Conduct. For example, the quality of ‘honesty’ appears in Value f and in the first element of the Code. As well, the requirement to have the highest ethical standards (Value d) could be said to overlap with the APS Code of Conduct as a whole since the Code provides a set of ethical standards.

Insufficiently specific

While each of the values is described in a complete sentence, which helps bring out its distinctiveness and hence provide a standard for testing whether they have been upheld, some descriptions are more helpful than others. For example, Value h) ‘The APS has leadership of the highest quality’ serves largely as an aspirational value and may be better provided for elsewhere in the Public Service Act.

What should be in the Values?

Retaining what we need

Few would argue that the existing concepts in the APS Values are not worthy or have no place in the management of the Service. This is reflected in the majority of the submissions made to the Advisory Group. It may be helpful, therefore, to re-examine the Values to be sure that, as a service, we retain what we need.

Comparing the five qualities in the Blueprint with the current APS Values, concepts which have not been specifically referenced include:

Current APS Values Qualities proposed by the Advisory Group Concepts omitted
The APS is apolitical, performing its functions in an impartial and professional manner Frank, impartial and non-partisan Professionalism
The APS is a public service in which employment decisions are based on merit Merit-based employment  
The APS provides a workplace that is free from discrimination and recognises and utilises the diversity of the Australian community it serves   Discrimination-free workplacesDiverse workforces
The APS has the highest ethical standards Ethical  
The APS is openly accountable for its actions, within the framework of Ministerial responsibility to the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public Accountable Framework of Ministerial responsibility
The APS is responsive to the Government in providing frank, honest, comprehensive, accurate and timely advice and in implementing the Government's policies and programs Frank, impartial and non-partisan Responsiveness and comprehensive, timely and accurate advice
The APS delivers services fairly, effectively, impartially and courteously to the Australian public and is sensitive to the diversity of the Australian public Frank, impartial and non-partisan Effective, courteous service-delivery and sensitivity to the diversity of the public
The APS has leadership of the highest quality   Leadership
The APS establishes workplace relations that value communication, consultation, co-operation and input from employees on matters that affect their workplace   Communication, consultation and co-operation in the workplace
The APS provides a fair, flexible, safe and rewarding workplace   Fair, flexible, safe and rewarding workplace
The APS focuses on achieving results and managing performance Results-oriented Performance management
The APS promotes equity in employment Merit-based employment Issues of equity beyond selection
The APS provides a reasonable opportunity to all eligible members of the community to apply for APS employment Merit-based employment  
The APS is a career-based service to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of Australia's democratic system of government   Career-based service
The APS provides a fair system of review of decisions taken in respect of employees   Fair system of review

Some of these concepts from the existing values could be included within descriptions of core values. For example, the description of a broad accountability value could include:

  • the concept of accepting responsibility for achievement, and
  • public servants understanding what is required of them within the performance management framework.

And the description of a broad results-oriented value could include effective, courteous service-delivery and sensitivity to the diversity of the public, as well as collaboration and team work.

Other concepts, such as the importance of leadership may be better dealt with in other parts of the Public Service Act and/or in other frameworks.

Adding new values

There may be other concepts not in the existing APS Values, or in the five qualities set out in the Blueprint, that should be included within a new values-set. For example, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the same speech referenced earlier also said:

Public servants must also take a responsible but bolder approach to risk, recognising that governing always involves choices between competing priorities—the merits of the planning process versus the need to get projects built quickly, for example.

And they must understand that imagination has to go hand in hand with implementation–that policy only works if it works on the ground.[14]

The Blueprint recognises the need to create a culture of innovation in strategic policy development and service delivery, and notes the particular importance of senior leaders within agencies driving innovation, integrity and collaboration.

A number of agencies and other jurisdictions also have value statements which articulate the importance of concepts like teamwork, respect and collaboration. These concepts could also be the basis for new values.

An alternative to creating additional values is to group similar ideas under an overarching concept and to develop a deeper understanding of the scope of the concept through supporting material. Examples of this approach in other jurisdictions can be found at Attachment B.

Key questions

8. What are the essential aspects of the current APS Values and how best can they be integrated into new core values?

9. Are there new qualities that should be included in revised APS Values?

10. Should the Values directly promote concepts such as innovation, teamwork or the importance of working collaboratively to achieve results?

Embedding values

The Blueprint has also tasked the Australian Public Service Commission with embedding the new APS Values. Your early ideas on this are also welcome.

Key questions

11. How can we best deeply embed the new values into daily behaviour?

12. How should they be integrated into a performance management framework?

Conclusions

The APS is facing a period of exciting and stimulating change as it moves to position itself to anticipate the changing demands of the Australian community and the global environment it works in.

We do not need to throw out the best of the past, but we may need to refocus our efforts so that the APS Values remain relevant.

The Australian Public Service Commission is very grateful for the time that you have taken to read this document. We would particularly value your comments and your suggestions about how we can move forward. The key questions for consultation are below.

 

Australian Public Service Commission

June 2010

Key Questions

What behaviours do we want in the APS?

1. What behaviours:

  1. should be encouraged to drive the required performance improvement identified by the Blueprint?
  2. promote the integrity of the Australian Public Service?
  3. should be fundamental to all Australian Public Service employees no matter where they work?
  4. reinforce the professionalism of the Australian Public Service?

Lessons from and risks of agency values

2. Should qualities commonly found in agency-specific values, i.e. respect for others and working collaboratively with stakeholders be part of a core APS value-set? If so, could they be included within the concept of a results-oriented APS or are they something different?

3.  Is there any place for agency-specific values once the APS Values are revised? If so, how can agency values be used to help drive the collective performance of the APS and avoid detracting from the idea of a unified public service?

Lessons from other public services

4.  What lessons can be learned from the frameworks and values-sets of other public services both overseas and in Australia?

5.  Could the APS Values be simplified by setting out essential concepts elsewhere in the Public Service Act?  For example, values that relate to workplace relationships could be set out in employment principles.

6.  How should we deal with merit? Is it so fundamental to the way the APS does its work that it should continue to be part of the revised APS Values? If not, where should it be appropriately identified?

7. What do we mean by an impartial public service? How broad should this value be?

Retaining what we need/adding new values

8.  What are the essential aspects of the current APS Values and how best can they be integrated into new core values?

9.   Are there new qualities that should be included in revised APS Values?

10.  Should the Values directly promote concepts such as innovation, teamwork or the importance of working collaboratively to achieve results?

Embedding values

11. How can we best deeply embed the new values into daily behaviour?

12. How should the revised values be integrated into a performance management framework?

Attachment A

Australian Public Service Code of Conduct (s.13 of the Public Service Act 1999)

  1. An APS employee must behave honestly and with integrity in the course of APS employment.
  2. An APS employee must act with care and diligence in the course of APS employment.
  3. An APS employee, when acting in the course of APS employment, must treat everyone with respect and courtesy, and without harassment.
  4. An APS employee, when acting in the course of APS employment, must comply with all applicable Australian laws. For this purpose, Australian law means:
    1. (a)  any Act (including this Act), or any instrument made under an Act; or
    2. (b)  any law of a State or Territory, including any instrument made under such a law.
  5. An APS employee must comply with any lawful and reasonable direction given by someone in the employee’s Agency who has authority to give the direction.
  6. An APS employee must maintain appropriate confidentiality about dealings that the employee has with any Minister or Minister’s member of staff.
  7. An APS employee must disclose, and take reasonable steps to avoid, any conflict of interest (real or apparent) in connection with APS employment.
  8. An APS employee must use Commonwealth resources in a proper manner.
  9. An APS employee must not provide false or misleading information in response to a request for information that is made for official purposes in connection with the employee’s APS employment.
  10. An APS employee must not make improper use of:
    1. inside information; or
    2. the employee’s duties, status, power or authority;

    in order to gain, or seek to gain, a benefit or advantage for the employee or for any other person.

  11. An APS employee must at all times behave in a way that upholds the APS Values and the integrity and good reputation of the APS.
  12. An APS employee on duty overseas must at all times behave in a way that upholds the good reputation of Australia.
  13. An APS employee must comply with any other conduct requirement that is prescribed by the regulations.

Attachment B

Comparison of the values frameworks for some overseas and major Australian jurisdictions

Jurisdiction Ethical framework Enforced Authority Website
New Zealand

A Code of Conduct set out on one page with four standards of ‘integrity and conduct’:

  • Fair
  • Impartial
  • Responsible
  • Trustworthy.

These standards are accompanied by a description within the Code. For example, ‘fair’ is described as:

‘We must:

  • treat everyone fairly and with respect
  • be professional and responsive
  • work to make government services accessible and effective
  • strive to make a difference to the well-being of New Zealand and all its people.’

The State Services Commissioner may set standards of integrity and conduct for the State Services by issuing Codes of Conduct for the Public Service, all or any Crown entities (but not tertiary education institutions or Crown Research Institutes), Parliamentary Services and the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

The Commissioner may report serious breaches to the responsible Minister.

State Sector Act 1988

The State Sector Amendment Act 2004

website

 

Canada

The Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service sets out the values and ethics of public service to guide and support public servants in all their professional activities.

The Code sets out Public Service values as well as Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Measures.

There are four families of values: 

  • Democratic Values
  • Professional Values
  • Ethical Values
  • People Values.

Each family of values has a summary descriptor followed by a list of matters they encapsulate. For example :

Professional Values: Serving with competence, excellence, efficiency, objectivity and impartiality.

Public servants must work within the laws of Canada and maintain the tradition of the political neutrality of the Public Service.

Public servants shall endeavour to ensure the proper, effective and efficient use of public money.

In the Public Service, how ends are achieved should be as important as the achievements themselves.

Public servants should constantly renew their commitment to serve Canadians by continually improving the quality of service, by adapting to changing needs through innovation, and by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and services offered in both official languages.

Public servants should also strive to ensure that the value of transparency in government is upheld while respecting their duties of confidentiality under the law.

This Code forms part of the conditions of employment in the Public Service of Canada. At the time of signing their letter of offer, public servants acknowledge that the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service is a condition of employment.

A public servant who does not comply with the requirements of the Code is subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Government of Canada policy

 website

United Kingdom

Civil servants are expected to commit to four core values:

  • Integrity – putting the obligations of public service above personal interests
  • Honesty – being truthful and open
  • Objectivity – basing advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
  • Impartiality – acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving governments of different political parties equally well.

The values are accompanied by a Civil Service Code which sets out the way civil servants should carry out their work, based on these values.

The values are also supported by the four Ps:

Pride – civil servants should take pride in the value they add and the services they deliver to the public.

Passion – civil servants should care about their work and the people they serve. A culture that values passion will also keep attracting the most talented people to join the organisation.

Pace – the Civil Service needs to ensure it gets on with the job as quickly as possible and provides value for money.

Professionalism – this can be achieved by constantly lifting standards and promoting a culture that values lifelong learning.

The Code forms part of the terms and conditions of employment of civil servants.

The Code does not cover ‘human resource management issues’.

Civil Service Order in Council 1995.

website

ACT

There are five ‘Values and principles’:

  • Service to the public
  • Responsiveness to the requirements of the government and the needs of the public
  • Accountability to the government for the ways in which functions are performed
  • Fairness and integrity
  • Efficiency and effectiveness.

These are complemented by a detailed ‘code of ethics’ similar to the APS Code of Conduct.

The Code is supplemented by rules contained in Public Sector Management Standards.

There are also general principles of public administration, as well as general principles of management in employment matters set out in the PSM Act.

Breaching the Code, or other ethical misconduct, can result in discipline action being taken under Agency Industrial Agreements or the PSM Act

Public Sector Management Act 1994 s6 and s9

website

NSW

General principles for public employees are set out in a model code of conduct for NSW public agencies:

  • Responsibility to the Government of the day
  • Respect for people
  • Integrity and public interest
  • Responsive service
  • Economy and efficiency.

The principles are accompanied by explanations in the Code. For example, responsibility to the Government of the day is described as:

‘Employees are to implement the policies and decisions of the Government of the day in an impartial manner. In particular, employees must comply with any relevant legislative, industrial and administrative requirements.’

There is also a Code of Conduct and Ethics for public sector executives.

The Code of Conduct and Ethics for public sector executives forms part of contracts of employment.

The model code of conduct is set out in Chapter 8 of the – Personnel Handbook.

The objectives of the Public Service Disciplinary scheme are set out in Part 2.7 of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002.

Personnel Handbook

Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002

website

Victoria

The Public Administration Act 2004 outlines the public sector values:

  • Responsiveness
  • Impartiality
  • Accountability
  • Respect
  • Leadership

These values are each accompanied by a description. For example, ‘accountability’ is described as:

  • ‘working to clear objectives in a transparent manner
  • accepting responsibility for their decisions and actions
  • seeking to achieve best use of resources
  • submitting themselves to appropriate scrutiny‘.

The Public Service Standards Commissioner issues codes of conduct that reinforce the values, as well as standards on how to apply the employment principles.

Public Administration Act 2004

website

Queensland

Public servants are required to uphold the 5 ethics principles set out in the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994. The ethics principles are:

  • Respect for the law and the system of government
  • Respect for persons
  • Integrity
  • Diligence
  • Economy and efficiency

Each principle is accompanied by a description. For example, ‘respect for persons’ is described as:

‘A public official should treat members of the public and other public officials honestly and fairly; and with proper regard for their rights and obligations.

A public official should act responsively in performing official duties.'

Chief Executive Officers are required to prepare codes of conduct outlining the ethical obligations for public officials.

The Public Service Act 2008 contains several general public service principles, including management principles, employment principles and personal conduct principles.

The Public Service Act 2008 outlines grounds for discipline which includes a clause about breaching the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994.

Public Sector Ethics Act 1994

Public Service Act 2008

website

Western Australia

The standards of conduct and integrity binding on all public sector employees are expressed in the following principles.

Personal Integrity - We act with care and diligence and make decisions that are honest, fair, impartial, and timely, and consider all relevant information

Relationships with others - We treat people with respect, courtesy and sensitivity and recognise their interests, rights, safety and welfare

Accountability - We use the resources of the state in a responsible and accountable manner that ensures the efficient, effective and appropriate use of human, natural, financial and physical resources, property and information

Under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards is required to establish Codes of Ethics setting out minimum standards of conduct and integrity binding on all public sector bodies and employees, and monitor compliance with these codes (section 21(1)(b)).

Public Sector Management Act 1994

website

South Australia

The following values are the foundation of ethical behaviour in the South Australian Public Sector:

  • democratic values - helping the government, under the law to serve the people of South Australia
  • service, respect and courtesy - serving the people of South Australia
  • honesty and integrity - acting at all times in such a way as to uphold the public trust
  • accountability - holding ourselves accountable for everything we do
  • professional conduct standards - exhibiting the highest standards of professional conduct.

The Code of Ethics is the Code of Conduct for the purposes of the Public Sector Act 2009.

The Code is issued by the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

Public Sector Act 2009

website

Tasmania

The Tasmanian State Service Principles and Code of Conduct are largely similar to the Values and Code of Conduct which apply in the Australian Public Service.

The State Service Commissioner issues directions setting out the minimum requirements that an agency head must meet in upholding and promoting the Principles, and the minimum requirements that employees must meet in upholding the Principles.

State Service Act 2000

website

Northern Territory

The Public Sector Employment and Management Regulations contain three Principles which comprise the human relations framework. These Principles are:

  • Public Administration and Management
  • Human Resource Management
  • Conduct

Each Principle contains a list of descriptors outlining the behaviour to be observed. For example, under ‘conduct’, one such behaviour is:

‘Employees shall perform their official duties with skill, impartiality, professionalism and integrity.’

Chief Executive Officers may issue an agency-specific code of conduct.

Public Sector Employment and Management Regulations

website

[1] Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration, Commonwealth of Australia, March 2010, p.v.

[2] Audi, R 1999, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd edition, Press Syndicate, University of Cambridge, UK.

[3] Macquarie Dictionary, 2nd revised edition, 1987.

[4] Attracta Lagan, Know your code, HR Monthly, December 1999, p30.

[5] Lynne Sharp Paine, Value Shift, 2003.

[6] Corporate Leadership Council, Conveying a spirit of one through core management processes – literature review, 1998  and Imbedding Values Throughout the Organisation – literature review, 2001 in Embedding the APS Values, Australian Public Service Commission, Commonwealth of Australia, 2003.

[7] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Government at a Glance, Public Governance Committee, 2009.

[8] Dolan, SL and Garcia, S 2000, ‘Managing by values in the next millennium-cultural redesign for organisational change’, Canadian Journal of Economics, vol 34, pp18-35 in Embedding the APS Values, Australian Public Service Commission, Commonwealth of Australia, 2003.

[9] NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), 1998, ETHICS: The key to good management (pp17-21) in Values resources for facilitators: Being professional in the Australian Public Service, Australian Public Service Commission, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005.

[10] Speech to the Institute of Public Administration, Mr Terry Moran, AO, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 15 July 2009.

[11] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Government at a Glance, Public Governance Committee, 2009.

[12] APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice: a guide to official conduct for APS employees and agency heads, http://www.apsc.gov.au/values/conductguidelines4.htm.

[13] Address to Heads of Agencies and members of Senior Executive Service, speech by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 30 April 2008.

[14] Speech to the Institute of Public Administration, Mr Terry Moran, AO, Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet , 15 July 2009.