The Independent Review of the Australian Public Service (APS) has reported on its interaction with more than 1,000 APS employees around the country in February and March.
Joining the APS Commission’s State of the Service roadshow, a member of the APS Review Secretariat, Callie Zorzi said the conversations, views expressed and the chance to answer questions made the exercise worthwhile.
“Public service is personal for all of us in some way,” Ms Zorzi said.
“I grew up in Darwin with Public Service parents. They showed me serving people is something to be very proud of.
“For me, the answer today is the same as it was back then. I want to make things better — for the people and the country.”
She said the aim of the February and March roadshows was to reinforce how visible the spirit of service has been in the review so far.
“We also covered the work we’ve done to gather lots of different views and ideas, to lay out a vision and develop draft recommendations,” she said.
“We ran people through how daily frustrations and big challenges make a case for doing things differently.
“We appreciate every bit of feedback we have been given so far — at the events themselves and through the evaluations provided to the organisers at the commission.”
She said that with 62 per cent of the APS based outside Canberra, the roadshow was a chance to learn more about the mind, mood and make-up of the APS in other areas.
“This is not the first effort we’ve made to meet and learn from Public Servants around Australia,” Ms Zorzi said.
“In 2018, we joined the Commission’s APS-wide conference series and held 16 half-day workshops.
“What we heard at each shaped the panel’s Priorities for Change now open for comment.”
