Australian public service commissioner stephen sedgwick

panel services

During 2012–13, the Commission continued to administer its capability development panel, e-learning support services and solutions panel, and executive search and recruitment panel, and to provide agencies with the opportunity to streamline their procurement to meet their capability development needs. Through ongoing partnerships with government agencies and private industry, the Commission transacted over $40 million worth of goods and services through the panels.

The Commission is currently reassessing its panel arrangements and intends to continue to support the strategic procurement of high-quality, value-for-money goods and services that support individual and organisational capability development in the APS.

Table 13 shows the number of contracts entered into by agencies for panel service programs delivered in 2011–12 and 2012–13, and includes a breakdown by sub-panel under the capability development panel.

Table 13: Number of panel service contracts entered into, 2011–12 and 2012–13
Panel	Contracts entered into
	2011–12	2012–13
E-learning panel	40	29
Executive search and recruitment panel	19	14
Capability development panel	418	368
Leadership sub-panel	82	78
Learning sub-panel	252	215
Development sub-panel	24	13
Business consultancy sub-panel	60	62
Total contracts for all panels	477	411

supporting Forums and networks

The Commission supports the Heads of Corporate Forum and the HR Leaders Forum in Canberra. These forums provide a vehicle for thought leadership in human capital and opportunities for human resource professionals to engage in discussion on current issues and explore activities that are consistent with best practice.

heads of Corporate Forum

Membership of the Heads of Corporate Forum is open to SES-level heads of corporate areas (or their equivalent). Hosted by the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, the forum facilitates open exchange between members through the delivery of presentations on strategic issues, significant initiatives and current research relevant to the human resources profession. Updates are also provided by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. During 2012–13, the forum met three times to address a range of topics including the Public Service Amendment Act, workplace relations, diversity, the new SES leadership development program, workplace absences and the use of social media in the APS.

hr leaders Forum

The HR Leaders Forum is available to human resource leaders in departments and agencies. The forum provides an opportunity for practitioners to meet to discuss human capital issues that affect APS agencies. During 2012–13, the forum convened four times and featured a variety of themes including absence management in the APS, the APS performance framework project, the Public Service Amendment Act, the agency capability reviews program, the APS Remuneration Report 2012, the upgrade of the APSjobs online employment portal, the EL 2 leadership and talent management review, Commission panel services, and the APS Indigenous Pathways Program.

regional Forums and events

The Commission supports regional forums and events through the activities of the Australian Government Leadership Networks and People Management Networks in each state. The regional networks provide senior public servants outside of Canberra with a forum for:

• professional development of senior leaders in the Australian public sector

• exchange of innovative thinking , ideas, knowledge and experiences, peer support and collegiality

• collaboration with other organisations and state government agencies

• facilitation of whole-of-government approaches to Australian public sector activities

• member contributions to the development of local and strategic Australian public sector initiatives

• reducing the impact of geographic isolation from national offices.

australian government leadership network

The Commission provides support, under the terms of a memorandum of understanding , for the provision of services to the Australian Government Leadership Network in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Queensland also signed the memorandum of understanding in September 2012.

The Commission provided support for a number of network events throughout the year, including an annual conference for each state. Some of the conferences had record registrations.

people management network

In Western Australia, the People Management Network provided an opportunity to share information and seek feedback on the development of the project on strengthening the performance framework. The network hosted an event in October 2012 focusing on performance management that included case-study presentations from the departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Human Services.

In Victoria and Queensland, the key focus of activities centred on the performance framework and the implementation of the outcomes of the amended PS Act, including the new APS Values. Absence management was also a focus in Queensland.

In Tasmania, the network concentrated on the implementation of the revised PS Act and hosted presentations by Comcare on the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

In New South Wales, the network provided an opportunity to share information on the performance framework project with presentations from the Commission, Comcare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The network also held an event on APS engagement and capability strategies for Indigenous Australians and amendments to the PS Act.

In South Australia, agencies continued to show interest in current human resource issues. Two events were delivered featuring presentations by the Executive General Manager, AusIndustry, and the Commission’s project manager for the performance framework project.