Australian public service commissioner stephen sedgwick

part 1: overview

The report’s overview includes the Commissioner’s review and an overview of the Commission’s role and responsibilities, outcome and program structure, organisational structure and financial performance. The Commissioner’s review summarises some of the principal developments affecting the work of the Commission, including highlights of significant achievements during 2012–13.

part 2: performance review

The performance review provides a detailed discussion of the Commission’s performance under its two programs. The performance information in Part 2 covers the Commission as a whole. To ensure comprehensive reporting against the program structure, the performance review includes the work of the Merit Protection Commissioner.

part 3: management and accountability

The management and accountability component of the report provides an overview of the Commission’s approach to corporate governance and the management of resources within the Commission.

part 4: Financial statements

Part 4 contains the Commission’s audited financial statements for 2012–13.

appendices

The appendices provide detailed information on staffing, work health and safety, the Information Publication Scheme and other matters relevant to the Commission’s activities.

annual report of the merit protection Commissioner

A report on the Merit Protection Commissioner’s statutory role and functions for the year ended 30 June 2013 as required by section 51 of the PS Act.

Contact us

The Commission welcomes your comments on this report. To make a comment, or to request more information, please contact:

Dr Julie Padanyi-Ryan

Client Engagement Group
Australian Public Service Commission
Aviation House
16 Furzer Street
Phillip ACT 2606

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.apsc.gov.au

Internet address for report: www.apsc.gov.au/annualreport

Commissioner’s review

This is my fourth annual report since I became the Australian Public Service Commissioner in December 2009.

Last year, I indicated that we had made great strides towards creating an outward-looking, client- focused and collaborative organisation that adds value to the APS through research and thought leadership and a capacity to disseminate it. The Commission’s new organisational structure, business model and strengthened workforce capability—and the commitment of our people and the willingness of many in other agencies to collaborate in order to improve the effectiveness of the APS—have been key to the delivery of professional support to agencies during 2012–13.

2012–13 in review

The Commission takes a leadership role in working with APS agencies in strengthening APS human capital strategies and workforce and capability planning, and in improving the talent management, leadership and performance culture within the APS. While continuing to enhance and deliver our core services, the Commission made significant progress in fulfilling our expanded responsibilities across the APS. Achievements included:

• supporting the Minister for the Public Service and Integrity with the passage through the parliament of amendments to the Public Service Act 1999, which commenced on 1 July 2013

• supporting agencies to implement the legislative changes by publishing detailed advice on action required, delivering information sessions and establishing an interactive question-and- answer page on the Commission’s website in the months before the new provisions came into effect

• working in partnership with agencies to develop resources to assist agencies to embed the revised APS Values and Employment Principles

• developing best practice reasonable adjustment principles and the APS Indigenous Employment Strategy 2012–16 to support APS agencies to improve the employment outcomes of people with disability and Indigenous Australians

• administering the 2012 APS employee census to 159,917 employees, with a 55% response rate, and developing and trialling an exit and entry survey to deepen our understanding of why people join the APS and why they leave

• completing research on performance management in the APS in partnership with several APS agencies, the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales, including the development of principles to promote a high-performance culture within agencies

• completing eight agency capability reviews and publishing four reports

• publishing the APS strategic workforce analysis and reporting guide developed in consultation with approximately 70 agencies

• completing the APS Classification Review and commencing work to address its recommendations, including the development of work-level standards applicable to classifications below the (recently reviewed) Senior Executive Service (SES)

• publishing the APS Remuneration Report, which captures remuneration data from all APS agencies

• delivering new approaches that support the APS Leadership and Core Skills Strategy 2012–13, including validation of existing leadership development priorities and identification of APS-wide core and management skills to be developed

• implementing new approaches to cross-APS talent development of SES Band 2 and Band 3 officers

• commencing work to develop an APS Asia Capability Strategy to support the development of Asia-relevant skills as required by the Australia in the Asian century white paper

• delivering the APS Human Resources Summit 2012; key themes included the need for human resources to deliver exceptional operational services and contribute to business-wide strategy, as well as the critical role of strategic workforce planning to meet economic, technological and demographic change

• commencing research and engagement with stakeholders, including unions, the Fair Work Commission, agencies, and state and territory governments, for modernisation of some 51 Australian Government employment awards, most notably the APS Award 1998

• finalising the evaluation of the 2011 bargaining round and commencing preparations for the 2014 bargaining round for APS agencies.

In addition, we undertook a wide range of business-as-usual activity. This included working with other central agencies to develop APS-wide management policies, support for SES recruitment, ethics advice, learning and development programs, Indigenous graduate recruitment, whistleblowing inquiries and the preparation of the State of the Service Report.

Moreover, the Commission continued in 2012–13 to enhance our people, processes and systems capabilities and:

• launched a Reconciliation Action Plan in consultation with Indigenous employees, communities, business people and leaders

• launched including you—APSC Workplace Diversity Program, an initiative that aims to embrace and celebrate the diversity of the Australian community within our workplace

• completed a comprehensive risk management review to identify risks to the achievement of the Commission’s outcomes and put in place mitigation plans

• completed a fraud risk assessment and analysis of the Commission’s level of fraud risk and developed a fraud control plan for the period 2013–15 to address the identified risks

• updated internal policies, procedures and processes, including the Chief Executive’s Instructions, procedural rules, and human resource policies and procedures in preparation for the commencement of the amended PS Act

• extended 360-degree feedback to include the Executive Level 2 cohort.

It has been an eventful year in which a number of projects, emanating from the recommendations of the Ahead of the game: Blueprint for the reform of Australian Government administration report, came to fruition. The Commission undertook significant work to ensure the passage of the amended PS Act through parliament and to prepare agencies for its implementation on 1 July 2013.

The capability review program completed eight reviews and we will continue, over the coming year, to advance this important work in the remaining participating agencies and to begin a round of ‘health checks’ to assess progress in implementing the agency action plan agreed with the Commission following each review.

The performance framework project delivered a considerable body of research to better understand what constitutes good performance in the APS and contribute to the development of a more comprehensive performance framework. Twelve agencies participated in the initial phase, providing a deep understanding of performance management practices and opportunities for improvement in their workplaces. The Commission will seek to encourage the involvement of a greater number of agencies in the project.

The introduction of the APS employee census in 2012 provided a rich source of data that reflects the views of employees on wide-ranging issues related to their experience of the APS work environment. The census, which is used to inform the State of the Service Report, elicited a response rate of 55% in 2012 and gathered significant momentum in 2013 with a rate of 66%.

This was a significant outcome and the research made possible by the high response rate has begun to better inform our understanding of key issues, such as perceptions of bullying in the APS.

I would encourage even better participation in the future as this will provide more reliable results for smaller demographic groups and at an agency level.