Glenys Beauchamp urges APS to speak to public, not peak bodies, as she receives Australia Day honour

The retired public servant has been appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for her work on health reform, industry and science policy over a 36-year career spanning both the federal and ACT public services.

Ms Beauchamp said it was alarming to see public trust in government, including the public service, had fallen in recent years and identified a lack of transparency in decision-making as one cause.

She called for the public service to spend more time co-designing programs and policy with the public.

"I think there should be more openness for public servants to have conversations about policy and policy development that aren't necessarily 'big P' policy," she said.

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Ms Beauchamp urged public servants to openly and transparently speak to citizens, not just the higher-profile groups they had tended to work with in the past, including peak bodies.

"Being more open and honest, I think is a good way to go," she said.

The former senior public servant said the public service would need an uplift in capability if, as Labor had signalled, the Albanese government was to involve agencies and departments more in policy development.

"There's always an exciting agenda, it doesn't matter what colour of the government comes in," she said.

"When there's a new government after a long period of time, always there's a good opportunity to be involved in a big reform agenda, and with the cut and thrust of wanting to do things pretty quickly, and get the agenda tracking over the next few years."

Ms Beauchamp, who spent her final weeks as Health Department secretary advising the then-government in the early months of the COVID pandemic, said the crisis had shown how large a role the APS played in people's lives.

"When you look at the partnership of citizens in assisting the government in limiting the spread of COVID, and doing what we could as individuals and as governments to work together, I think there was absolutely high regard for the role of public service," she said.

The long-serving bureaucrat, who also led the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and the Department of Regional Australia, Local government, Arts and Sport, largely maintained a low public profile at the top levels of the APS as she worked closely with ministers from both sides of politics.

Ms Beauchamp has previously listed among career highlights her work on the medical research future fund, efforts to renew focus on mental health, the review of Medicare Benefits Schedule items, and new pharmaceutical benefits scheme medicines including the HPV vaccine.

She was also front and centre in events following the historic 2010 election result leaving a hung Parliament, working as deputy secretary of governance at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and overseeing parliamentary processe, while crossbench MPs negotiated with Labor and the Coalition on forming a government.

Ms Beauchamp said the Australia Day honour was recognition for the teams that had supported her during her time in the public service.

"It means a lot to me personally, but also means a lot to me in terms of the organisations and teams I've led," she said.

"I just feel very privileged in terms of the career I've had, and that it's been recognised."

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