The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) has released its submission to the Australian Public Service (APS) Review, calling for the APS to make better use of data and the not-for-profit sector and to revisit its definition of integrity.
The School also called for the APS to better recognise the role of the States and the private sector in service delivery.
Dean and Chief Executive of ANZSOG, Professor Ken Smith (pictured) said Governments were facing increasing challenges and needed to think strategically about what they needed for the future.
“New skills are required to manage digital transformation, disruptive innovation, demographic diversity, loss of trust, and the rise of anti-expert, anti-evidence, and populist movements,” Professor Smith said.
He said the ANZSOG submission outlined nine priority areas for the review to consider based on how the School saw the future needs of the APS.
Among its proposals, ANZSOG recommended the APS look to the non-profit and private sectors for service delivery; provide access to targeted research to support innovation and deliver high-quality policy advice through an assessment of policy capability; and develop better ways to use research and collaboration.
It suggested the APS should strengthen public trust through an institution-first approach to integrity; prioritise appropriate leadership for effectiveness rather than simply relying on ongoing structural change; and work across the Federation, through attention to the interfaces between jurisdictions and the responsibilities of each level of Government.
ANZSOG also believed the APS should strengthen Indigenous leadership; create greater public value through innovation; and make better use of data, recognising the potential of digital transformation and technical and strategic challenges.
Professor Smith placed particular emphasis on integrity and the importance of moving beyond a rule-based approach that focused on the absence of corruption, to one that focused primarily on the integrity of institutions.
He said integrity was critical for building public trust.
“Unfortunately, Agencies often seek to build integrity through a narrow rule-based regime,” Professor Smith said.
“Integrity is fundamentally an institutional attribute that shapes the behaviour of individuals.”
ANZSOG’s 36-page submission can be accessed at this PS News link.
The review’s final report is expected to be handed down by the end of 2019.
