The practice of moving members of the Australian Public Service (APS) from one major project to another is likely to continue into the future according to the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens and APS Commissioner Peter Woolcott.
In an open letter to the APS, the leaders shared the outcome of recent Secretaries Board discussions on the APS reform agenda.
“The Board has agreed to prioritise a series of initiatives that build on and embed the best of the APS during the crisis,” Mr Gaetjens and Mr Woolcott said.
“This reform in practice will ensure that we keep supporting Australia’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, while building long-term APS capability,” they said.
“To be most effective, we must work together and act as an APS enterprise.”
“We must continue to share data, flexibly move people where they are most needed, and collaborate early on policy or implementation challenges.”
The leaders said the Secretaries Board was committed to leading by example and would continue to work together, meeting regularly to support the development and delivery of cross-cutting Government priorities.
They said strengthening APS workforce planning and capability was one of the Board’s priorities.
“Building on the successful mobilisation of staff to meet crisis needs over the last few months, we are developing a proposal for an APS ‘surge reserve’ that will enable APS volunteers to be deployed to a range of critical functions as required,” they said.
“Commonwealth, State and Territory Public Service Commissioners also recently endorsed a National Framework for Public Sector Mobility to facilitate rapid movement of staff between jurisdictions.”
The leaders said the upcoming APS Workforce Strategy would outline the capabilities required to support the Government’s focus on economic recovery and guide APS-wide and agency-level actions to build skills for the future.
“This is a tough time and it is important that we look after ourselves and support each other,” Mr Gaetjens and Mr Woolcott said.
The full two-page open letter can be accessed at this PS News link.
