PM&C secretary Glyn Davis 'quietly confident' for APS as reform agenda kicks in

Professor Glyn Davis said the department had embraced all six recommendations of the inquiry, which aim to improve transparency on ministerial appointments.

"It did point out things that could be improved, and we acted on them the moment we got them. And in that sense, it's been a very helpful review for us because it's given us some guidance on how we can improve processes," he said.

"And of course, it's reminded us and reminded the nation that frank and fearless advice is at the heart of what we have to do, and we have to be held to account for whether we achieved that.

"The trouble with frank and fearless advice is that most of the time you can't see it, it doesn't happen in public, it happens privately."

While he would not comment on the political debate and commentary about the secret ministries saga, Professor Davis in an interview with The Canberra Times said the Prime Minister's Department had responded to the Bell inquiry by writing legislation addressing the recommendations, which was before the Parliament.

"We've all read every word of that report, and thought hard about it," he said.

The report, by former High Court justice Virginia Bell, found the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet did not provide advice to Mr Morrison arguing for greater disclosure of his additional ministries, and said this was "troubling".

However, the report said Mr Morrison was responsible for the secrecy about his appointments to multiple ministries.

After the May election, the new government's ministers called for public servants to challenge them in their advice and said the APS would be involved in delivering Labor's agenda.

Asked whether public servants were able to give frank and fearless advice, Professor Davis said the Albanese government ministry so far had an ethos of being willing to hear it, even when the advice didn't necessarily support the agenda it wanted to pursue.

"That's really encouraging, because it's one of my working definitions of how government should operate. And I've been really pleased to see that," he said.

Both governments and public servants played a role in fostering frank and fearless advice, Professor Davis said.

"The APS has to take responsibility for behaving as against our values. And we need a political system that will acknowledge that this is what they expect of the APS and they welcome it when it happens, rather than get defensive."

Professor Davis - a long-time public policy academic and former University of Melbourne vice-chancellor who has worked in the philanthropic sector - took the helm at PM&C after being appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May.

Several months into his new role, Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher announced the Labor government would embark on a renewed and expanded drive to reform the APS, drawing heavily on the Thodey review of the public service released in 2019.

Professor Davis said his role had shown him up close the depth of talent and range of expertise in the public service.

It also confirmed for him the findings of the Thodey review - which he assisted as a panel member - particularly about the effect of under-investment in the IT systems underlying government services.

"We've particularly got challenges around data and underpinning IT systems, and got a lot of work to do there. But the prospect for digital transformation of services is real and live and there's lots of people committed to it. I don't doubt that it can happen," he said.

The work of rebuilding some of the public service's systems was well under way, and the APS reform work led by Public Sector Reform secretary Gordon de Brouwer had been well received, he said.

"I'm quietly confident that we've got an APS that knows in a sense what it wants to achieve and what needs to change to do that, and is committed to it," Professor Davis said.

"And we've got a government that is invested in APS reform. And I think that combination puts us in a good place."

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Public service reforms had been funded generously with $72.9 million over four years from the government in the October budget, but the APS would need to demonstrate a return on that investment, including through its rebooted reviews of agency capability, he said.

Fiscal challenges facing the federal government will also pose a barrier to the APS reform agenda, Professor Davis said.

"It's a tough time financially, and the government is committed to budget repair, which doesn't make it a great time to have ideas that are expensive," he said.

"If you ask me what is the single biggest constraint on hitting all our targets, it's the fact that we'll have to be modest in our budget requests like everybody else. And we'll have to respect the fact that it's one objective amongst many, rather than the overriding objective."

In an ideal world, Professor Davis would like more recruitment of graduates into the public service, more training and development of staff, the development of more professional streams around core areas of expertise, and consideration of more places for younger public servants on international postings.

He is concerned about whether there is enough investment in the IT systems underpinning government services, an issue identified in the Thodey report.

"You've got to be citizen centric, and if you're going to run more sophisticated evaluation systems for expenditure and tracking, then you're going to need a digital platform that we currently don't have."

Professor Davis said he had been uplifted by the commitment to public service, and the willingness to sign on to the APS charter of values, that he'd encountered in meeting public servants since taking on his role.

"If we can harness that and use it well, I think we can have, as we should, the great APS the country deserves," he said.

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