The year ahead

Priorities in 2019–20

Consistent with previous years, the priorities for next year are:

• raising the profile of the office with APS employees and agencies by implementing the communication plan and redeveloping the Merit Protection Commissioner’s website
• continuously improving the quality and timeliness of our work , including through the supervision model
• supporting agencies to improve their decision making through presentations to practitioners on good practice in decision making and people management
• supporting agencies in complex case management, including through the Code of Conduct inquiry service
• developing decision support tools, in particular procedural manuals accessible to Merit Protection Commissioner staff through a portal on the intranet
• transitioning the Merit Protection Commissioner case management system to the Australian Public Service Commission’s protected network and improving its functionality, including reporting
• Working with the Australian Public Service Commission on integrity and people management issues and better integrating lessons learned from review work to inform policy development.

In the year ahead the Merit Protection Commissioner will finalise the review of strategy and operations that commenced in 2018–19. This will focus on priority areas, and on aligning and designing structure and strategy for maximum efficiency and performance of the Merit Protection Commissioner’s functions. The review will also identify or enhance initiatives for working collaboratively with other stakeholders, as well as considering the potential expansion of statutory functions (Code of Conduct inquiries and staff selection) and providing non-statutory employment-related services to non-Commonwealth bodies.