Capability review: Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education

Foreword

The 2010 report Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration recommended that the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) undertake reviews to assess capability in key agencies and to identify opportunities to raise the institutional capability of the service as a whole.

The methodology used by the APSC to conduct these reviews has been gradually refined to more closely reflect the Australian context in which the review program is being conducted.

I would like to thank the senior leadership of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) for their enthusiastic support of the review, along with those staff who participated in the interviews and workshops conducted during the review.
Their efforts are appreciated.

I would also like to thank Mr Tony Cole AO, the chair of the review team, the other senior members of the team, Mr Dieter Adamsas and Ms Stephanie Foster PSM, and my own team from the APSC who support and advise them. Once again, this review has demonstrated the advantages of bringing together a team
of such high calibre and diversity of experience.

Steve Sedgwick

AO

Australian Public Service Commission

1 About the review

A capability review is a forward-looking, whole-of-agency review that assesses an agency's ability to meet future objectives and challenges.

This review focuses on leadership, strategy and delivery capabilities in DIICCSRTE. It highlights the department's internal management strengths and improvement opportunities using the model set out in Figure 1. A set of 39 questions is used to guide the assessment of each of the 10 elements of
the model. Those assessments are included in Section 4 of this report.

Capability reviews are designed to be relatively short and take a high-level view of the operations of the department. They focus primarily on its senior leadership, but are informed by the views of its staff who attend a series of workshops.

External stakeholders are also interviewed, including relevant ministers, private sector companies, state delivery organisations, peak bodies, interest groups, citizens, clients and central agencies.

The fieldwork for the capability review of DIICCSRTE was undertaken between 20 May 2013 and 9 August 2013.