Hearing their questions and their hopes for their work.

The State of the Service Roadshow is about listening, respecting our public servants and defending the democratic traditions of Australia.

Sitting in the roadshow event in Canberra, I was so encouraged when the questions started rolling in:

"How are we looking after the wellbeing of our people?"

"How do we collectively repair integrity?"

As I said: we have an obligation to ensure that we are investing in the people of our APS. We have an obligation to get culture and integrity right internally, so we can deliver externally.

On wellbeing, I outlined some of the work that government has done to recognise the importance of the wellbeing of our APS workforce. Investing significantly in expanding the public service. Recognising that there were agencies and parts of the public service who were struggling. And so, in the last financial year we grew the public service by 6.9 per cent.

Because we knew that public servants were experiencing burnout and that the public were not getting the services they needed. Delays, slow response times and general frustrations are a natural consequence of a public service that is under-resourced.

We have added 10,000 public servants to help with some of these challenges.

When one of the questioners asked how we "collectively repair integrity," that was a meaningful moment. To me, it spoke of a shared understanding that integrity is a process in which we all have roles to play. Government, public servants, and citizens.

The roadshow discussed the robodebt royal commission inquiry and the recommendation that people spend more time in public service agencies doing front-line work. Ensuring leaders really understand the impacts of policy decisions.

That is one of the things I prioritise in my work with the public service. I go and meet, and listen to front-line workers from different agencies within the public service.

The day before the Canberra roadshow I visited the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in Geelong, talking to people who do planning meetings. I also visited the Australian Taxation Office in Northbridge this month. On each visit, I learnt so much by sitting with people and seeing frontline parts of the public service in action.

Whether that is delivering Centrelink payments, tax returns, Medicare rebates or pension support payments.

I saw that in action in the Northbridge Tax Office. The enthusiasm with which staff like Heather do their work, and how it makes a real difference to Australians. Heather is particularly excited for July 1, where the work she has done will deliver tax cuts for Australian taxpayers.

The Albanese government is implementing initiatives to bolster APS integrity and transparency. And we are committed to listening to public servants every step of the way.

I would like to thank the 780 public servants who attended the roadshows in person, and the 1985 who joined us online. Their insights and input will be invaluable in our collective work ahead.

The expectations on our government and the public sector to manage complexity are greater than ever. Our government recently asked 6000 Australians to tell us their thoughts on democracy in Australia.

READ MORE:

We published the results last fortnight in the Trust and Satisfaction in Australian Democracy report.

Ninety-five per cent of respondents agree that democracy is important and 80 per cent agree that it is worth fixing any problems democracy may have.

Our government and those surveyed share a view that Australian democracy is always worth strengthening.

By listening to our public servants, we strengthen our nation. Building towards a stronger public service and a thriving Australian democracy.