The Labor government will move to protect the public service from attempts by future governments to undermine and devalue its role, signalling an agenda of "enduring" reform bolstering integrity measures and workplace culture.
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Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher on Thursday announced Labor would embark on changes to legislation and culture to build the bureaucracy's ability to form long-term policy solutions for problems facing the nation.
She told the Institute of Public Administration Australia's national conference in Canberra the Albanese government would "enshrine" the bureaucracy's responsibility to be a "steward" of the public interest and institutional knowledge through changes to legislation for the public service.
"As servants of the public we are all responsible and accountable for leaving the APS in better shape than we found it," Senator Gallagher said.
Labor also plans to extend a requirement to adhere to public service values and principles to more federal organisations.
Senator Gallagher called on public servants to join in the government's new reform agenda, which she said would increase integrity and build respectful workplaces in the federal bureaucracy.
"I would hope that in a few years when we look back, an increase to transparency and integrity is clear, that the sharing of information is habitual and deeply embedded as part of our culture, that the APS is recognised as a model employer and is attracting and retaining the best and brightest that Australia has to offer," she said.
"To get there, each of you must accept the challenge laid out and the responsibility to help drive that change."
Departments 'no longer admin services for ministers'
The "enduring" reforms to strengthen the public service would require conscious and public decisions by future governments to reverse, and were aimed at helping restore public trust and faith in government and its institutions in the bureaucracy, the minister said.
She said the Coalition had devalued the public service for a decade, and turned some federal departments into something more like an "administrative service" for ministers.
"More could have been done over the past decade to value the work done by the APS and to build the public sector needed for the future," she said.
"Too many resources flowed away from the APS and towards contractors, consultants and labour hire firms, decimating functions that should sit at the heart of a strong public service like critical and creative thinking.
"In some departments, the public service became more like an administrative service to ministers, with core work like policy development being shipped out to consultants.
"There was the public downplaying of policy development, the devaluing or disposal of years of experience and knowledge and a casualisation of the workforce. A lack of interest in investing, nurturing, planning for the public service as an institution in itself.
"This changes under the Albanese government."
Labor's reform efforts would focus on growing the public service's transparency and integrity, improving its services to the public and businesses, making it a better place to work, and building its internal skills.
As flagged earlier on Thursday, Senator Gallagher also announced the government would move consulting work back in-house to the public service in a bid to rebuild skills and cut wasteful spending on outsourcing.
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Among the major reforms about to take effect in the public service is the return of regular reviews of the capability of departments and agencies, set to begin this year.
Senator Gallagher announced the Australian Public Service Commission - which will usually lead the reviews - had volunteered to be the first agency to undergo a capability review since they stopped several years ago. The Prime Minister's Department will oversee the review of the APS commission.
She also issued a clear call for federal agencies and departments to share information with the public, saying transparency "must be a core part of APS business".
Departments and agencies should share the results of surveys gauging staff experiences and views of their workplaces, surveys of trust in Australian public services, long-term policy insights, capability reviews, and other information it gathered, Senator Gallagher said. The government will make the results of the national survey of trust in Australian public services available in a new annual report.
Labor also plans to improve how the public service develops and plans policy with "long term insights" briefings bringing together experts from the public service and consult with the community, academics, industry and the non-profit sector on specific long term policy challenges to identify solutions.
"Using both data and experiences from Australians interacting with the APS, we can better develop policies to address long term issues beyond a three-year electoral cycle," she said.
'We need to talk about public servants'
Senator Gallagher also said the government would make the public service a better place to work, saying its people were "our greatest resource".
"We need to talk about public servants themselves," she said.
"If we want our public service to focus on the Australian people, we have to put our focus back to the people who make up the Australian Public Service."
Labor was looking to reduce the gender pay gap in the public service, build longer-term career pathways for Indigenous staff, and do more to attract and retain people with disabilities as APS staff.
Senator Gallagher has also asked the APS Commission to develop a public service-wide approach to flexibility in consultation with department secretaries, combining the best of flexible work arrangements while ensuring employees can benefit from time spent working in the office.
In a bid to lift integrity standards across agencies and department, the Labor government will ask the public service to develop a statement of purpose.
"It's about time that the APS had a unified vision that resonates with all public servants. One that makes it clear what the APS aspires to," Senator Gallagher said.
She called the public service "one of the critical pillars of political integrity".
"It must be empowered to be honest and truly independent, to defend legality and due process, and to deliver advice that the government of the day might not want to hear just as loudly as the advice that we do," she said.
"This cannot just be done at a departmental level or a secretary level or even at a deputy secretary level. Every single public servant has a role to play when it comes to making sure that the APS uses its position and influence wisely, and uses that power to do well by others."
Reforms to the public service would also draw on recommendations in recent reviews of parliamentary and public sector workplaces, Senator Gallagher said.
"We cannot truly say we've reformed the APS without acknowledging the deep reforms necessary about how we treat our colleagues, and how we all in turn expect to be treated in the workplace.
"The APS should set the standard in this regard for all workplaces across the country."