Minister for the Public Service Katy Gallagher has described the proposed new "own motion" powers for the APSC Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer as a mission to return the role as being the 'beating heart" of the Australian Public Service.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Senator Gallagher has outlined the new integrity measures in the next stage of APS reform during a speech in Canberra, attended by senior bureaucrats including APSC Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer, PM&C Secretary Glyn Davis, Finance Secretary Jenny Wilkinson, and the Australian Public Service Commission's chief negotiator Peter Riordan.
She also announced the "big challenge" of the SES 100 program to make sure there are senior leaders in the APS who have a First Nations background, with a target to lift from the current 54 in the senior executive ranks to 100 by 2024-25.
Senator Gallagher said the government wants to build a stronger public service, including the APSC Commissioner, in light of scrutiny over the robodebt scandal, the PwC consultancies scandal and various code of conduct inquiries.
![Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Commissioner of The Australian Public Service Dr Gordon de Brouwer. Picture by Gary Ramage Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Commissioner of The Australian Public Service Dr Gordon de Brouwer. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/40f88c8f-4b5f-402f-9c83-b16baa51e07e.jpg/r0_142_4000_2400_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"In a nutshell, what we try and do is empower the APSC Commissioner. Empower that role. Lift it and have it really at the sort of beating heart of the Australian public service," she told reporters in Canberra.
"I want to see the APSC's role and respect in the APS lifted. Part of that is making sure that the APS Commissioner actually has the powers to do the job that we're asking them to do."
The Albanese government will now move to give the APS Commissioner powers to initiate reviews and investigations into code of conduct breaches by current and former agency heads (including secretaries) and APS employees.
READ MORE
Currently, matters have to be referred to the commissioner. In the case of the robodebt referrals, they came from the royal commission in the sealed section of its report. In the case of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo and his communications with a Liberal figure, it came from the Minister for Home Affairs Clare O'Neil.
The minister said she is trying to get the APSC Commissioner back to its former higher position within the public service.
"When I was a union organiser a long time ago, the APSC set the standard for the public service. That's where you went for your advice. That's the place that set the guidance out to agencies," she said.
![Senator Katy Gallagher. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Senator Katy Gallagher. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128375134/d4cf0935-48b6-48c0-9155-2bfc1c15babf.jpg/r0_314_7848_4726_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"That was not the APSC I inherited when I became minister, and we're trying to change that and get it back to that former role."
The minister also outlined a path for "better handling" of sustained under-performance of secretaries, including "appropriate" consequences, as well as a requirement for the PM&C Secretary and APSC Commissioner to conduct a merit-based appointment process for secretary roles.
Adding to this is the "SES 100" which aims to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation in the senior executive ranks of the public service.
Senator Gallagher said it was a big challenge, but it was a case of "seeing what you can be".
"So making sure we've got leaders in the APS, senior leaders in the APS, who are of First Nations background," she said.
"And that's the target that we set ourselves, the SES 100 program, which is essentially to double the amount of First Nations leaders across the APS, because that drives improvement at all other classification levels, and sets the standard really."