4.1 Working in partnership

Working in partnership with business, civil society and communities, the APS can achieve better outcomes through more robust policies, better targeted programs, fit-for-purpose regulation and user-centred services.

To support stronger partnerships between the APS and other sectors, the Secretaries Board is taking forward the Thodey Review [34] recommendation to establish a Charter of Partnerships and Engagement.

Aligning with the Government’s focus on people and business-centred policy and delivery, a new Secretaries Board Partnership Priorities Sub-committee is being created. It will focus on bringing together sectors on priority topics, such as Closing the Gap, or developing place-based approaches to areas of significant national challenge. APS Academy initiatives to uplift APS engagement and partnership capability supplement this focus, ensuring APS employee readiness to strengthen this work. The new sub-committee will play an important role in shaping how the APS Academy can build stronger partnership and engagement capabilities in its people, particularly to work more closely with First Nations Australians and communities.

While many APS agencies and departments continue to build strong, collaborative partnerships with other sectors, cross-agency collaboration is essential and often facilitated through short-term taskforces to address multi-faceted issues facing agencies and project-specific partnerships.

The Chief Operating Officers Committee is an example of essential collaboration between corporate leaders. With membership representing all portfolio agencies and large service delivery agencies, the committee was established in 2020, with two main roles:

• to assist the APSC in managing whole-of-government operational and implementation matters
• driving delivery of whole-of-government initiatives in line with the APS Reform agenda and the direction set by the Secretaries Board.

The committee has been instrumental in managing and implementing a broad range of APS workforce decisions throughout the COVID-19 crisis. It is now focusing on a broader set of issues in line with its original mandate and the Government’s renewed focus on the APS Reform agenda.
 

APS collaboration with other sectors
	Collaborating with the research sector The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is collaborating with Charles Sturt University to deliver a new Biosecurity Training Centre. Based in the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, the centre will significantly strengthen Australia’s biosecurity capability. Students began training as biosecurity officers in July 2022.
	Collaborating with industry Through its Industry Growth Centres Initiative, the Department of Industry, Resources and Science is driving innovation, productivity and competitiveness in key growth industry sectors. Included in the initiative is the National Energy Resources Australia’s Regional Hydrogen Technology Cluster Network. This network of hydrogen technology clusters across Australia supports the emerging hydrogen industry.
	Collaborating with community On Cape York Peninsula, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is involved in a collaborative project to improve the management of feral pigs in wetlands ecosystems. This National Environmental Science Program project provides an opportunity to synthesise the on-ground knowledge and priorities of Traditional Owners, land managers and researchers with Commonwealth and state government objectives for wetlands and the control of feral species.