Operating context

Contents

APS reform

APS reform has been an ongoing effort for a number of years and momentum is accelerating. The 2019 Independent Review of the Australian Public Service remains an important bedrock for the APS reform agenda, the operating context of the Australian Government and the APS has shifted since 2019. This includes Government election commitments, changes in the public’s expectations of the APS and in the challenges and opportunities the service faces. The APS Reform agenda builds on a range of reform efforts to date and is repositioning the APS to be future fit and capable of adapting and evolving to meet changing and rising expectations.

The APS reform priorities are driving significant change across the APS, including proposed amendments to the Public Service Act 1999 to help the APS better serve the Government, the Parliament, and the Australian public. The Public Service Amendment Bill was introduced on 14 June 2023 to lock in key APS Reform initiatives that will strengthen the APS’ core purpose and values, build the capability and expertise of the APS, and support good governance, accountability and transparency. APS Reform is supporting conversation around the role of consultancies, with consideration to how and when the APS engages additional external support and capability.

APS Reform reinforces the Government’s commitment to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, including the Priority Reforms. The Commission will work with agencies to boost cultural capability and increase the number and seniority of First Nations peoples and Culturally and Linguistic Diverse people in the service. It will actively shape the APS as an employer of choice, attracting talent and diversity, building capability with an increased focus to improve First Nations outcomes and opportunities.

Reinforcing institutional integrity is a priority for the APS to rebuild public trust. The Robodebt Royal Commission Taskforce outlined failures and mistakes in the APS, and the APS has a lot to learn from these events. The Commission will play a central role in strengthening integrity through the Government’s Robodebt Taskforce and across the APS by uplifting integrity across systems, people and culture.

Building on the foundational work done by the APS Integrity Taskforce, the Commission in partnership with relevant APS agencies, will scope and deliver data on core integrity metrics as they apply to the APS. This will inform future policy work on APS integrity, driven across the service.

External influences

The findings of the APSC Capability Review, APS Reform, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme and the expectations of APS partners shape and inform the future APS, there are important external factors that are drivers for change, including technology, the public’s changing expectations of service delivery, response to environmental disasters and climate change and cost of living pressures.

The Commission plays a role in being forward looking and uplifting the public service as a coherent and robust workforce to meet expectations of the public. A combination of the fast changing employment environment, with scarce skills and resources, and a perceived lack of trust in the public service has resulted in an increase in expectations of public servants to deliver and justify their actions. The cascading effect to meet these often impacts those required to deliver services with a constant need to be online and connected, that results in burnout.

Additionally, the pace of adoption of generative AI has been faster than any other application. While the use of AI paves the way for innovation in services and applications that can provide the maximum benefit to the public, it will have far greater implications for workers, employers and the Government.

Over the last few years, the modern career has evolved, with much higher levels of job mobility through surge deployments, taskforces and other placements. The Commission supports targeted use of mobility to benefit both the employees and the organisation. Through movement of locations as part of these arrangements, the modern career in the APS can appear non-linear, switching not only jobs but occupations and moving to virtual.

The Commission can play a role to support the APS through better workforce planning. The demand for digital, data, cyber and green economy skills is cutting across the economy with consequential impacts on labour affordability and scarcity. This demand is in part driven by the whole-of-government digital and data agenda with multiple APS agencies competing to draw on the same pool of talent. The general rise of the contingent workforce and increasing demand pressures across sectors and industries has created a patchwork labour market that is increasingly difficult for the APS to navigate. This challenge is amplified for small APS agencies which are competing with larger agencies for talent.

The Commission continues to reshape itself as a dynamic and agile organisation, ready to address environmental, societal and economic changes, and build a strong and enduring APS for generations to come.

Our capability

The Commission seeks to empower, enable and support our people and the broader APS to be the best they can be in their workplace.

From performing our core legislative functions to supporting the APS Reform agenda, we are committed to ensuring we evolve our capability to meet the expectations of the Australian Government and people.

To ensure the APS is future fit, we lead regular capability reviews that support continuous improvement in public administration.

The APSC Capability Review was undertaken in 2023 is part of a pilot of a wider Capability Review program. The review looked at the Commission’s current and future capability needs across five domains: leadership and culture, collaboration, delivery, people, and resourcing and risk. The review made a range of findings that fall into two broad categories:

improving our value proposition, influence and impact across the APS
improving how we operate as an agency including how we plan, prioritise and resource, and how we attract and retain the right staff to deliver.

The Commission’s Action Plan in response to the APSC Capability Review findings will look to build capability to ensure that we are well placed to deliver on our forward agenda, including delivering the APS Reform agenda, strengthen integrity across the APS and ensuring the APS has the capability to meet its future challenges and achieve outcomes for the Australian Community. As part of our response, we are refreshing the Commission’s strategic vision and agenda for the future. Details on our progress in responding to the APSC Capability Review findings will be reported in future Corporate Plans and Annual Reports.

Ongoing implementation of the APS Workforce Strategy is a key focus for the Commission and informs our approach to attract, build and retain a high performing workforce across the APS. We will draw on our expertise in workplace relations and employment policy, strategic workforce planning, data collection management and analysis, integrity, inclusion and capability development, to deliver better workforce outcomes for the APS. The APSC Capability Review findings are timely in supporting our capability and workforce planning efforts, ensuring we attract and retain the appropriate staffing profiles and mix, to deliver into the future.

Our ability to attract in-demand skills and reflect the diversity of the community in our workforce, means seeking talented staff from across Australia and offering flexible and attractive working conditions that reduce or remove the barriers to employment among culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We have staff across the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. We are committed to an inclusive work culture and to flexible and blended work practices to position ourselves as an employer of choice. The implementation of our fifth Reconciliation Action Plan provides a platform to develop and strengthen practices to attract, recruit, develop and retain First Nations employees.

Risk oversight and management

In 2023–24, the Commission’s Executive Board articulated risk appetite and tolerances for our key activities—to uphold the high standards of integrity and conduct in the APS, strengthen APS-wide and external partnerships to deliver APS Reform, lead quality public service workforce management, and build public service capability and leadership for the future.

Our risk management framework sets out the policy and governance arrangements for the identification, management and communication of risk. We periodically review the framework in the context of our operating environment to ensure controls and treatment strategies remain effective. We identify and manage risk at the enterprise and group level, with oversight provided by the Chief Risk Officer and governance committees.

We are empowering our staff to identify, engage with and manage risk to realise the best outcomes for the enterprise and to achieve our outcomes. This means we recognise that embracing innovation and accepting risk is usually necessary to achieve our outcomes.

The year ahead for the Commission will be an ambitious one as we transition to leading APS Reform through the transition of the APS Reform Office from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

In 2023–24 we will support our people to manage risk through enhanced tools and training and continue to monitor progress on our risk treatments. This will further build awareness of our risk profile and priorities, better target risk conversations in our decision-making and strengthen our risk management capability.

Our Audit and Risk Management Committee continues to provide independent advice on the appropriateness of the Commission’s financial and performance reporting responsibilities, risk oversight, risk management and internal control systems.

To achieve APS Reform outcomes, the Commission needs embrace innovation. Confidently engaging with risk is an important part of a successful organisation.

The key enterprise risks and treatments associated with the delivery of our purpose and key activities in 2023–24 are:

Key activity	Key risks	Treatments
Uphold the high standards of integrity and conduct in the APS	Perceived or actual failures by the Commission to create systems and a culture that cultivates positive conduct and integrity in decision making and policy implementation across the APS. Inadequate assurance processes to monitor agencies adoption of the APS Values and Employment Principles and evaluate the adequacy of systems and procedures in Agencies for ensuring compliance with the Code of Conduct give rise to potential vulnerabilities that undermine the integrity of the APS. Perceived or actual failure to uphold integrity within the Commission, undermining trust, credibility and the Commission’s ability to operate transparently and fairly.	Robust internal policies, procedures, training and frameworks for integrity matters. Regular audit and assurance activities in relation to integrity matters. Transparency is essential in demonstrating integrity in everything we do.
Strengthen APS-wide and external partnerships to deliver APS reform	Secretaries and agencies do not meet the ambition of the APS Reform Agenda: A public service performing its craft with confidence but not arrogance An APS that has highly effective management of complex issues in a complex system demonstrating respect and integrity An APS Culture where behaviour really matters, and where excellent culture and inclusion are a part of the way the APS works every day. Lack of commitment to shared risk across Secretaries, leaders and APS Staff in the delivery of the APS Reform We do not adequately engage with external expertise, partners and services to deliver outcomes. Data insights and intelligence across the APS is not gathered and managed effectively.	Engaging with our partners, utilising our data and analytics to ensure our decisions and advice are evidenced-based. A focus on two-way active communication. Strong internal decision-making and prioritisation processes. Regular strategic planning and prioritising process including horizon scanning, as well as regular engagement with external partners.
Lead quality public service workforce management	Inadequate management of people including career pathways, retention, empowerment of capability and resources such as financial, IT, physical. The safety and wellbeing of our people is not effectively managed leading to a demotivated public service, averse to risk-taking and more prone to future failures.	Further work to mature our enabling services toward being an exemplar of people and resource management. A respectful values-driven culture supports effective workforce management and workplace diversity, fosters inclusion and innovation. Strategies, frameworks and policies underpin advice.
Build public service capability and leadership for the future	The APS Academy’s contribution across the APS is ineffective in building core public sector capabilities.. The Commission does not have the internal capability, people and skills mix to effectively lead and deliver APS Reform.	Support service-wide interventions to enable capability uplift. Continued investment in both the foundations that enable the APS Academy to have a greater reach across the Service and in APS Craft offerings and experiences. Attracting people with the right skills, qualifications and characteristics for the right roles. Invest in developing leadership skills and expertise will enable the Commission to achieve its strategic objectives.

Stakeholders

We are a trusted advisor to Government and recognised for our implementation of the Government’s APS Reform priorities and statutory obligations.

To effectively serve a modern Australia, we must work in genuine partnership with people, our stakeholders and the community.

We exist to serve the public effectively and efficiently, and we ensure the Australian Government achieves its priorities through the APS. We work to be a valued, credible and trusted partner – promoting high standards of accountability, effectiveness and performance.

Strengthening APS-wide and external partnerships is critical to achieving the Commission’s ambitious vision for the APS.

We provide high-quality and timely advice and support to the Minister for the Public Service and the Assistant Minister, to communicate key issues, challenges and opportunities for the APS. We also provide transparency through the Australian Parliament and its committees.

We will be inclusive and collaborative in our approach to partnerships and engagement, embracing a diversity of thought and lived experience to solve complex problems.

We will seek opportunities to continue and expand our partnerships with other sectors and jurisdictions – state and territory governments, our international counterparts, academia, the not-for-profit and private sectors – to learn from, contribute to, and share information and insights.

We are committed to a meaningful and ongoing relationship with First Nations peoples. We celebrate and respect the unique culture and contribution of knowledge that First Nations peoples bring to the APS. We continue to build an APS that reflects the communities that we serve with a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce, creating genuine opportunities for First Nations peoples and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds building the breadth of experiences capabilities and perspectives across the APS.

Our focus on APS capability is strengthened by close partnerships with a range of educational institutions that specialise in working with the public sector – to build a pipeline of talent for the future. In addition to our existing relationships with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation and the Institute of Public Administration Australia, in 2023–24 we welcome new partnerships with the University of Newcastle, University of Tasmania, James Cook University and Charles Darwin University. We are working with the universities to establish data and digital APS Academy campuses onsite, allowing more students to pursue an APS career while continuing their studying in their local communities.

We are a trusted partner for APS agencies and value the views and perspectives of APS employees and their representatives. The annual APS Employee Census allows employees to tell us and their agencies what they think about working in the APS. It provides useful insights that help to shape the direction and culture of the service.

We support statutory office holders – the Parliamentary Service Commissioner and the Merit Protection Commissioner – as well as providing policy and secretariat support to the Remuneration Tribunal and the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal. As part of the support provided to the Parliamentary Service Commissioner, we also provide corporate support to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS), pending passage of the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill 2023 establishing PWSS as a standalone agency.

We actively participate in the work of Secretaries Board and its sub-committees, including as co-chair of the Future of Work sub-committee and deputy chair of the Chief Operating Officers sub-committee.

In 2023–24, these sub-committees and the APS Reform Program Board will be important drivers of whole-of-government operational and implementation matters and APS Reform. This work will help ensure that the APS remains fit-for-purpose going forward. The APS Reform Program Board has been established as a body to oversee the implementation of each wave of the Reform Agenda. The Program Board plays an important assurance role with a focus on the APS Reform Program governance framework and risk management framework, as well as the program’s overall maturity and readiness for evaluation and review.

We exchange knowledge, experience and insights with foreign government partners in our region and multilateral institutions on public sector workforce management, leadership and career management. We work closely with our counterpart agencies in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga as well as with Kiribati, Nauru and Vanuatu. We have Memorandums of Understanding with our partners in Singapore and India as well.

Australian Public Service Commission performance framework

Portfolio Budget Statement	Key activities		Corporate plan
Portfolio Budget Statement		Uphold the high standards of integrity and conduct in the APS Aligned to reform priority 1	Corporate plan
Outcome 1 Increased awareness and adoption of best practice public administration by the public service through leadership, promotion, advice and professional development, drawing on research and evaluation.		Strengthen APS-wide and external partnerships Aligned to reform priority 2	Purpose Our purpose is to position the Australian Public Service workforce for the future to ensure it meets the demands and expectations of the Australian Government and people.
		Lead quality public service workforce management Aligned to reform priority 3
Program 1.1 This program contributes to the outcome through bundling capacity, driving productivity and performance, streamlining processes and reducing red tape and promoting integrity and accountability among the APS.		Build public service capability and leadership for the future Aligned to priority reform 4	APS reform priorities An APS that: embodies integrity in everything it does. puts people and business at the centre of policy and services. is a model employer. has the capability to do its job well.

Annual Report Annual Performance Statement