Australian public service commissioner stephen sedgwick

parliamentary Committee inquiries—submissions and hearings

The Commission provided input into several parliamentary inquiries during the year.

parliamentary joint Committee on the australian law enforcement integrity Commission—inquiry into the integrity of overseas Commonwealth law enforcement operations

On 6 December 2011, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity initiated an inquiry into the management of corruption risks arising from the international operations of Commonwealth law enforcement agencies. On 21 June 2012, the committee amended the terms of reference to allow consideration of the corruption and integrity matters faced by all Commonwealth agencies and not just Commonwealth law enforcement agencies.

The Commissioner made a submission to the inquiry in August 2012 and appeared before the committee on 8 August 2012. The submission and the Commissioner’s evidence noted the role of the Commissioner, the application of the APS Values and Code of Conduct, and the low levels of misconduct identified and investigated in the APS in 2011–12.

The committee reported on 24 June 2013.

standing Committee on education and employment—inquiry into workplace bullying

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment commenced an inquiry into workplace bullying in May 2012. The Public Service Commissioner and Merit Protection Commissioner made a joint submission to the inquiry in July 2012 and appeared before the committee on 17 August 2012. On 26 November 2012, the committee tabled its report, entitled Workplace bullying : We just want it to stop.

The Commission contributed to the government response, which among other things accepted the report’s recommendation that a review be conducted of the use of Regulation 3.2 (direction to attend medical examination). The Commission agreed to take carriage of this review, which will commence in 2013–14.

The recommendation addressed to the Merit Protection Commissioner is reported on in the Merit Protection Commissioner’s annual report which follows the appendices to this report.

standing Committee on social policy and legal affairs—inquiries into public interest disclosure legislation

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs commenced inquiries into the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Bill 2012 and Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012 (the Wilkie Bills) in November 2012, and the government’s Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2013 in March 2013. The committee tabled its report on these Bills on 28 May 2013.

The Group Manager, Ethics participated in a roundtable hearing on the Wilkie Bills on 30 November 2012, and the Commissioner made a submission in relation to the government’s Bill in April 2013. Among other things, the Commissioner noted the need for a public interest disclosure scheme to work effectively with the existing APS misconduct regime.⁴

The parliament subsequently passed the government’s Bill, and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 takes effect on 16 January 2014.

standing Committee on education and employment—inquiry into the Fair work amendment (tackling job insecurity) bill 2012

In November 2012, the Fair Work Amendment (Tackling Job Insecurity) Bill 2012 was referred to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment for inquiry and report. The Bill recommended a number of changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 to provide a process for employees in insecure work to be moved to ongoing employment status in certain circumstances.

The Commission’s submission to the inquiry noted support for measures that guard against the improper use of insecure working arrangements, but expressed concern about the Bill’s compatibility with the principles of the PS Act, and more specifically the principle of merit-based employment.

The committee’s final report was tabled in June 2013, with the recommendation that the House of Representatives not pass the Bill.

other Contributions

During 2012–13, the Commission contributed to the government response to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Report 117: Family violence and Commonwealth laws—improving legal frameworks. The report was part of the government’s action arising from the recommendations from the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022.

strategic leadership

The Commission provides support to a number of high-level APS strategic leadership groups: the Secretaries Board, the APS200 and the Public Service Commissioners’ Conference.

secretaries board

The Secretaries Board continued to meet in 2012–13 and considered a range of whole-of-APS topics.

aps200

The APS200 comprises heads and deputy heads of departments and other agencies that employ staff under the PS Act. The members of the senior leadership group aim to build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the APS, and a shared commitment to adopting long-term, strategic and collaborative approaches for responding to those challenges.

In 2012–13, the Commission facilitated four APS200 events in partnership with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet:

4 The Commissioner made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’

^{inquiry into the government’s Public Interest Disclosure Bill in the same terms.}

• an address by Dr Ken Henry AC, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, on Australia in the Asian century (September 2012)

• an address by writers and commentators Mr George Megalogenis and Ms Laura Tingle on citizen expectations (November 2012)

• a workshop on building APS capability for the Asian century (February 2013)

• a panel discussion and workshop on citizen expectations (May 2013).

secretaries’ performance Framework

The Commission continued to work with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to develop a strengthened performance management framework for secretaries. The establishment of a framework is now a statutory requirement. The framework operates on a calendar year performance cycle and includes an assessment against the APS-wide stewardship responsibilities and 270-degree feedback (that is, feedback from workplace superiors and peers as well as a self- assessment).

public service Commissioners’ Conference

The Public Service Commissioners’ Conference is held twice a year. The conference is a cross- jurisdictional forum for Commonwealth, state and territory public service commissioners and New Zealand’s State Services Commissioner. The conference provides opportunities for commissioners to discuss contemporary challenges in public administration. It also serves as a forum for exchanging information and sharing experience. The Commission provides secretariat and research support to the conference.

organisation For economic Co-operation and development

The Commission continued to support the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and in particular Australia’s participation in the OECD Public Governance Committee. In 2012–13, the Australian delegates to the committee were Ms Carmel McGregor, Deputy Secretary, Department of Defence, until 30 December 2012, and Ms Penny Weir, Acting Deputy Public Service Commissioner, from 1 January 2013.

The Commission works collaboratively with other agencies to provide Australian responses to a range of OECD requests for information or validation of Australian data. In 2012–13, this included:

• contributing to a survey on compensation of employees in central/federal governments of OECD countries

• validating survey findings on gender trends in public sector employment, and validating Australian input to the draft public governance review of Poland

• providing comments on the OECD accession process of the Russian Federation. The Commission also responded to OECD-related requests from other APS agencies.