2021 has been a challenge for the Australian Public Service to serve its country through the pandemic by lockdowns, separation from loved ones and the numerous challenges that came with the COVID pandemic according to the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens.
Delivering the Institute of Public Administration Australia’s (IPAA) Annual Address to the APS, Mr Gaetjens (pictured) said the year’s vaccine rollout was one of the largest logistics exercises ever seen in Australia’s history, with close to 40 million doses of vaccines administered and 88.5 per cent of people aged 16 and over fully vaccinated.
“This would not have been possible without everyone in the APS — both in Australia and at posts overseas — working together with the States and Territories and with all the many health and service providers at the pointy end who put jabs in arms,” Mr Gaetjens said.
Turning to climate change, he said the announcement of a target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and participation at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow was historic.
“An enormous effort was made within the Industry, Science, Energy and Resources portfolio and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with others in the APS and beyond, to enable Australia to shift from a decade-long caustic climate debate to tangible action and quantified goals,” Mr Gaetjens said.
He said that internally, APS reform continued in a practical way through the Secretaries Board and the APS Reform Office.
“In July, the APS Academy was launched to invest in the capability of the APS, so we can keep on delivering and be a modern and attractive workforce,” Mr Gaetjens said.
“We have done all this, of course, while adjusting to shifting conditions in our working environment,” he said.
“We’ve had to cope with a 10-fold increase in digital demand, so we’ve massively increased our APS digital infrastructure capacity.
“We’ve also improved our cyber infrastructure to meet a significant increase in cyber risks.”
Looking forward to a Budget in March and an election due by May, Mr Gaetjens said these were a couple of large milestones in next year’s plans.
“In the accompanying caretaker period, we must maintain services to the community consistent with the longstanding conventions which apply to the APS in the lead-up to an election,” he said.
“The caretaker period is also the time for us to finalise preparations to support whichever Government is elected, so that we are in a position to understand and implement the promises made.
“Let’s look forward to new opportunities and challenges to work on together to deliver for all Australians.”
The Annual Address to the APS was hosted by the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).
Other speakers at the Canberra event were Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Indigenous Australians Agency, Letitia Hope; Australian Public Service Commissioner, Peter Woolcott and Secretary of the Treasury and President of the IPAA ACT, Steven Kennedy.
The Secretary’s speech can be accessed at this PS News link.
