Comley dishes writing tips, as APS gains ex-PwC partner

The Department of Health and Aged Care secretary spoke at the National Portrait Gallery last Thursday about the learnings from his department's capability review, for the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

Among these was the need for the department to lift its strategic policy capability, which Mr Comley said on one level meant ensuring "our written work is as clear as possible".

This is especially important for Health, given that half- to two-thirds of new policy proposals for government in a budget cycle apparently come from the department.

But Mr Comley had some constructive words for the drafters; often people "who are very close to the topic" and "very passionate".

"What they're often not great at is thinking to yourself - who is my audience?" he said.

"The audience is, in many respects, a very busy [expenditure review committee] minister, or a person in a central agency, who is trying to work out first of all what you're actually proposing and how can I be convinced that that is going to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people?

"And so one way I think about it is: you should write an MPP as if you're writing for the AFR audience."

In other words: someone who is broadly interested in policy, but isn't an expert in the area.

Another tip for anyone working in the Health department: try to keep your sentences under 30 words. The top boss said editing long blocks of text with a pen in hand made him grumpy.

Mr Comley - only eight months into the top Health job - also talked about his passion for devolving leadership in the organisation, and empowering staff working closely on projects with the autonomy to deal directly with stakeholders.

"Lots of people want to see the secretary, and believe me it's pretty tricky to get across the detail of a department where 7000 people are busily doing things; you can't do it," he said.

"Which is by the way why I'd like stakeholders to engage more not with me ... but with people closer to the action."

Former PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia partner Shane West has a new role in the public service.

Two sources told The Canberra Times Mr West had recently been hired by Defence Housing Australia.

An agency spokesperson confirmed Mr West had been appointed to an Executive Level 2 role in the agency, following a merit-based process.

"DHA conducted a merit-based recruitment process," the spokesperson told us.

"Mr West applied and his application was assessed by a selection panel in accordance with APS Employment Principles and APSC guidance."

Mr West left PwC in October 2023 - according to his LinkedIn profile - and joined a boutique consulting firm for a short stint.

While at PwC, he appeared as a witness before the robodebt royal commission, where he was grilled about a nearly $1 million report into the scheme - commissioned in 2017 - which was shelved. The firm later agreed to repay the $1 million.

His new title will be "head of provisioning", the spokesperson said, and he'll be in charge of the "strategic direction, oversight and advancement of DHA's provisioning capability".

The agency spokesperson said Mr West had not been involved in Defence Housing Australia contracts while at PwC Australia.

The National Portrait Gallery wants a fresh new vibe, and it's willing to pay.

The gallery has approached the market, seeking expressions of interest from companies to give it a makeover from head to toe.

The rebrand will include redefining the gallery's purpose; auditing all of its "brands" (the cafe, the shop, exhibitions); recreating its "tone of voice"; and refreshing its visual identity - including designing a new logo.

And the new look should be coming soon, too. It wants all of this to launch in the last half of 2024.

Here's wishing them more luck than "the Bureau".

Fifteen current and former public servants still face investigations relating to their roles in the unlawful robodebt scheme.

As of March 2024, the Public Service Commission has not made any final determinations on potential breaches of the APS Code of Conduct.

It won't give a timeframe for this, either, citing the complexity of the matters.

So what will we find out about these investigations? Short answer: we don't know.

But the man with all the power to make those decisions will be Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer.

Dr de Brouwer made the call to release high-level findings from the APSC inquiry into former Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo, citing the public interest.

Public Eye understands no one else gets a say - any information released will be solely his decision.