Ways of working - Decision making | Australian Public Service Commission

Members of the Australian Public Service should make decisions at the lowest appropriate level, with the right people, applying the right judgement. This makes the best use of our capability at all levels across all areas of the public service.

What success looks like

Outcome: We make best use of APS capability at all levels, in day-to-day decisions
We can do this by:	Making decisions at the lowest appropriate level	Involving the right people	Applying the right judgement
For instance:	Understanding the responsibilities of different levels in the Work Level Standards Setting delegations at lower levels (ensuring responsibility is appropriate for the classification level) Delegating responsibility rather than tasks Educating and empowering staff to think about and manage the risks that arise in their work Reporting up the line for visibility, rather than approval.	Collaborating across levels, teams and agencies to solve problems Pulling in staff with the right knowledge, regardless of level Including the perspectives of end users, including the community.	Knowing your agency’s appetite for risk and its tolerance for risk-taking as it applies to your work Understanding the broader context, including priorities Being clear on intent Communicating and testing, not acting in isolation Considering the impact on people and business Embodying integrity and stewardship.

Why should decisions be at the lowest level?

Successive reviews have found the APS often pulls decisions up higher than needed in an effort to manage risk. You can correct this and support decision making at the lowest appropriate level, in line with recent amendments to the Public Service Act 1999.

Guidance

What can agency executives, manager and teams be doing to evaluate and improve decision making in their organisation?

Enablers, barriers and team activities

What are the kinds of conditions that make best practice decision making easier or harder? Download some examples to start a conversation about best practice decision making.