Operating context and capabilities

Operating context 

Environment

We work locally, within our region and globally in a dynamic and evolving political, social and technological environment.

Rapidly responding to trends in digital advancement, flexible work, ethical governance and stewardship, as well as expectations for stronger partnerships and connections between the public service and its stakeholders, will be essential to sustaining trust and delivering on our purpose and vision.

To do this, we will inform, respond to, and learn from various legislative and regulatory changes, reviews and findings, as well as listen to those with lived experience, to drive a culture of ongoing review, evaluation, and improvement.

Capabilities

People

Our people are our greatest asset. We will maintain and develop a diverse, capable, inclusive and professional workforce with enhanced tools and processes to help them do their jobs well.

The development of the Commission’s capability ensures that we can continue to achieve our purpose. Investments in capability also support us to lead by example, uphold public sector principles and values, and build flexibility and expertise to meet current and future needs.

Based on our legislative obligations, the Commission seeks to reflect the diversity of Australians in our workforce and to foster a workplace that is supportive, respectful, safe and inclusive. Our suite of guidance and policies will help guide this work over the forward years.

We will continue to invest in our workforce through a range of learning offerings for all staff including through leadership development opportunities. Our priority is also to strengthen the assets, technology, systems, tools, and processes that enable the Commission’s activities, and our people to do their work.

The Commission continues to operate in a highly competitive labour market which requires us to adapt our attraction, recruitment and workforce planning frameworks to acquire expertise needed to meet the changing needs of government and the community.

In 2024-25 the Commission will develop and implement its next Strategic Workforce Plan. The Plan will focus on the structures, processes and strategies to manage and develop our workforce through the employment lifecycle to attract and retain the skills we need now and into the future.

Equally important is providing staff with access to contemporary wellbeing support and reasonable adjustments so that they can thrive at work. We focus on both physical and psychological health, and are committed to providing a psychologically safe workplace, to be an employer of choice, support staff wellbeing, and drive a pro-integrity culture.

Technology

Our technology objective is to ensure that our staff have the right tools to do their work. We will achieve this by strengthening our technology, digital and data environment, prioritising a modern workplace and contemporary services. Key initiatives will include a new technology operating model, fit for purpose applications and tools, and improved technology services. In addition we will continue to look at opportunities to adopt emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, and to strengthen our cyber security and technology governance arrangements.

Implementation of the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework

Growing the capability of our workforce as part of our broader role in building APS capability will continue to be a priority for the Commission. Through our implementation of the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework, any use of external expertise will be based on our consideration of core work, and directed at circumstances that enhance our work and the knowledge of our team.

The Commission has identified its core work and confirmed that it does not currently outsource any APS-wide core work, as defined in the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework.

Across the balance of the Commission’s core work, our target for 2024-25 is to reduce outsourcing in the APS job families of Service Delivery and Policy, with an expected reduction of $635,500.

Capability Review

The APSC’s Capability Review, conducted in July 2023, confirmed that our expertise and partnership is highly sought after and valued by our stakeholders. The Capability Review assessed the maturity of the Commission against 5 domains of:

• Leadership and Culture
• Collaboration
• Delivery
• People
• Resourcing and Risk.

The Commission published its response to the Capability Review in September 2023. The Action Plan identified 12 broad response actions, to enhance capability maturity over a 5 year horizon and better position the organisation for the future. In line with our implementation timeframes, as at 30 June 2024, we have completed a third of our enhancement activities, with the remainder to be implemented over the life of this Corporate Plan.

Robust consolidation and analysis has been undertaken to clarify the Commission’s purpose, vision and priorities that are articulated in this Corporate Plan. We have also implemented initiatives to better leverage data to support policy development, service delivery and transparency, which has included the release of more data in the State of the Service Report and proactively assisting agencies to better utilise results from the APS Employee Census and the Trust in Australian public services survey.

Risk oversight and management systems

Understanding, adapting and responding to changes in our operating environment is critical to delivering on our Purpose. The Commission’s approach to risk management supports us to prepare for change, continuously improve our performance and enable considered decision-making. The Commission’s Risk Management Framework and Policy is consistent with the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy and the internal standards set out in ISO31000 – Risk Management.

Risk management is a responsibility of all Commission employees. The Commission empowers its staff to identify, engage and manage risk to deliver on our Key Activities and realise our Purpose and Vision. Our appetite for risk in reforming and building APS capability acknowledges that embracing innovation and accepting risk is often necessary to achieve our Purpose, whilst for other risks our lower risk appetite is framed by our statutory obligations and / or the undesirable serious consequences that could occur.

The Commission recently refreshed its strategic risks, captured below, to align with our purpose and activities.

Whether:

1. the Commissioner is able to meet their legislative obligations under the Public Service Act 1999 reflecting an established framework for institutional integrity
2. our actions and communication support trust and confidence in the Commission (by the Australian Parliament and Government, APS agencies and the community) to establish and maintain meaningful partnerships that enable delivery of timely, relevant and influential advice
3. we provide policy guidance and advice that aligns with stakeholder needs, is pragmatic to implement and is evidence-based
4. we understand the employment market and align workplace conditions with labour force expectations to attract and retain talent, increase engagement, motivation and enthusiasm to position the APS as a model employer
5. our strategies, policies, initiatives and products are designed to build public sector leadership and capability to meet ongoing and future needs
6. we sustain the capacity and capabilities needed to continue to meet the expectations and growing demands of our stakeholders in an environment of reduced financial certainty.

To support management of strategic risks, business risk management occurs in line with defined roles, responsibilities and practices. The APS Commissioner, taking into account advice of the Executive Board, Chief Risk Officer and Audit and Risk Committee, establishes the APSC’s risk appetite and tolerance. During 2024-25, the Commission will continuously improve its approaches to support a strong risk culture, and compliance with the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy.

The Commission’s Executive Board continually monitors the environment in which the Commission operates, adjusting the Commission’s risk profile as necessary. This approach supports the Executive Board to implement mitigation plans, enhance controls and implement treatments to ensure risks rated above tolerance levels are returned to an appropriate level. The Audit and Risk Committee, supported by our internal audit function, receives all internal audit reports and directs senior leaders to provide information as necessary, to enable the committee to assess whether risk is being appropriately managed. The Committee provides advice, and reports directly, to the Commissioner.

Cooperation

The Commission plays an important role in delivering functions under the Public Service Act 1999 and in partnering with Secretaries in the stewardship of the APS. To effectively serve a modern Australia and drive APS integrity, workforce management and capability, we must work in genuine partnership with the rest of the public service, stakeholders and the community.

We provide high-quality and timely advice and support to the Minister for the Public Service and the Assistant Minister. We also provide transparency through the Australian Parliament and its committees.

We aim to be 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 of the public service and drive high levels of performance. Similarly, we engage with the Australian community through the Survey of Trust in Australian public services.

We 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 that lead to better outcomes and public sector reforms.

We are committed to a meaningful and ongoing relationship with First Nations peoples and we continue to build an APS workforce that reflects the multiple diversity dimensions of the communities that we serve.

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 2024–25 we will continue to build on partnerships with universities.

We actively participate in the work of Secretaries Board and its committees, including as co-chair of the Capability and Workforce committee; Deputy Chair of the Chief Operating Officer Committee, Secretaries Talent Council, and Deputy Secretaries Talent Council; and as members of the Secretaries Digital and Data Committee and the Partnership Priorities Committee.

We exchange knowledge, experience and insights with foreign government partners in our region and multilateral institutions on public sector reform, workforce management, leadership and career management. We work closely with our counterpart agencies in Indonesia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and Vanuatu. We also represent Australia at the OECD Public Governance Committee and are looking to meet demand from counterparts across Southeast Asia and further across the Pacific. We have memorandums of understanding with our partners in Indonesia, Singapore, India, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

In addition to the above, the Commission receives annual funding from portfolio departments - as agreed at Secretaries Board – for the Academy to deliver whole of APS strategic and transformative initiatives to drive capability uplift. We also work with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to develop public sector capacity in the Asia-Pacific region through the Australian Aid Program.

System support

The Commission provides support across the system of government through its provision of employees and capability to the Remuneration Tribunal, Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal and Merit Protection Commissioner.

The remuneration tribunals perform an important role in determining, reporting and advising on allowances and entitlements for office holders, including parliamentarians, judicial and non-judicial court and tribunal holders and members of the Australian Defence Force.

The Merit Protection Commissioner supports agencies, departments and employees to meet their responsibilities, including through offering a system of review on a range of actions, decisions and promotions, complaints investigation, and assistance with recruitment and selection processes.