Terry Moran, who was the head of Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Rudd and Gillard governments, has argued that Australia needs "better political leadership" in a speech in Sydney on Tuesday night.

Mr Moran has called out the "growing trend" on both sides of politics "to portray themselves as effective managers".

He said this does the nation a disservice.

"Much of the dysfunction in the relationship between ministers and their departments comes from quite a few ministers seeing their role as micro managing their departments," he said.

"Not surprisingly, given their usual pre-political backgrounds - most ministers are, to be blunt, lousy CEOs."

Mr Moran, who is now the president of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, argued that political leaders should be focused on "the ability to touch the ground and build coalitions of support for new ideas and reforms".

"By this means, the public can be taken on a journey as support for reform is built," he said.

In the annual Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop Lecture, Mr Moran warned that Australia was losing its culture of public service in the vein of the wartime surgeon, where "leaders saw the needs of others who shared his time and place".

Mr Moran, who is also chairman of the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, said that the definition of success in public service should be not just outcomes for the most successful, but "fair outcomes for the entire community and even the most marginalised".

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Mr Moran was currently president of the Institute of Public Affairs.