How many Australians could identify what a departmental secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet does without referencing a television satire?
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That crucial link to the decisions of government and their implementation features in the first of two exhibitions at the Museum of Australian Democracy partnering with the APS Commission recognising the work of public servants.
A new trove of more than 500 items has been gathered from private collections and government vaults to lift the veil of bureaucratic secrecy to tell the behind the scenes role of the public service impacting the health and wealth of Australians since Federation.
The first of the planned exhibitions was opened at Old Parliament House, focused on the PM&C secretary, the values and role of the APS serving successive governments, and policies in practice - from the reality of the White Australia Policy for front line migration officials, to vaccination policy advice through the years.
The display showcases how government functions because of the people behind them providing frank and fearless advice all the way through, says Museum director Daryl Karp.
"The exhibition sets out to show that you can't do it in isolation of the public servants who are supporting you," Ms Karp says.
Ben Morton, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, kicked off the launch noting no prime minister could achieve anything without the public service support them, so it was appropriate that the exhibition suite - used by previous PM&C secretaries - is connected via a now open door to the prime minister's suite.
"The work of public servants is both visible and invisible," Mr Morton said. "It reflects the times, the needs of the Australian public and impacts each and every one of us".
Mr Morton said he's been on the other end of frank and fearless advice, and witnessed first hand how the advice of the Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy and Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has been debated, considered and agreed to by government, leading to the where the nation is today.
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The demands on officials have changed, observed Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott.
"Issues have become far more complex, interconnected, and almost all international issues play in domestic context more than they used to," Mr Woolcott said.
"It's that complexity which means that the public service really has to be much more joined up - the old silos that might have existed really can't do the right thing by government or by the Australian people."
Competition for capability and attracting the best and brightest was also a bigger challenge for the public sector now, Mr Woolcott said, and which had long been leading community standards, such as on gender diversity.
A second exhibition is planned for next year that will more deeply explore the diverse people of the public service, the role of women and the role of the APS supporting the Australian community.
Former departmental secretaries and the families of those now deceased have lent their stories and personal mementos to the collection.
The National Archives called out to agencies who have donated more than 500 significant artefacts, some dated to BC - Before Canberra - and tell recognisable stories of authority struggles between portfolios.
Curator Holly Williams nominated among her favourite items the vial of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that was administered to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, capping a story of health advice shaping government responses to infectious diseases from the beginning.
"Australia has led the way in many of these areas and it reminds me of the value of a strong, continuous public service workforce ready to step up in a crisis," Ms Williams said.
The humble space used for the exhibition was used by PM&C secretary Sir Geoffrey Yeend as he advised the Fraser and Hawke governments, but even the top public servant at the time had to share his office with a stationary cupboard.
Interviews with living secretaries and commissioners have been recorded for the museum's collection, including the first woman appointed as secretary of a Commonwealth department, Helen Williams, along with Tom Calma, Michele Bruniges, and Brendan Murphy.
The museum received an additional $11.3 million for upgrades for the House of Representatives chamber in this month's federal budget. Other major capital works in the museum include converting the Senate undercroft into a large modern exhibition space and the creation of an APS Careers Inspiration Centre, for which the museum has been allocated $5 million.
The new centre and phase two of the APS exhibits will be adjacent to the new APS Academy announced earlier this year to teach the craft of public administration.
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