Commission overview

The Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) is part of the Prime Minister’s portfolio. The Commission supports two statutory office holders, the Public Service Commissioner (who is also agency head) and the Merit Protection Commissioner.

Our mission is to promote, review and evaluate a values-based APS and to foster its capability. The statutory responsibilities that support our mission are outlined in the Public Service Act 1999 (the Act) and include:

evaluate the extent to which agencies incorporate and uphold the APS Values
evaluate the adequacy of systems and procedures in agencies for ensuring compliance with the Code of Conduct
promote the APS Values and the Code of Conduct
develop, promote, review and evaluate APS employment policies and practices
facilitate continuous improvement in people management throughout the APS
coordinate and support APS-wide training and career development
contribute to, and foster, leadership in the APS
provide advice and assistance on public service matters to agencies on request
provide external review of actions by the Merit Protection Commissioner.

The Commission works to achieve an outcome specified by government, namely: ‘a confident, high quality, values based and sustainable Australian Public Service’ through three output groups:

APS policy and employment services
Development programmes
Better practice and evaluation.

The Commission’s activities are funded through a combination of budget appropriation and revenue generated through the sale of services. Much of this revenue is earned in an open market where agencies have choices about where they source services and the levels of services acquired. In 2005–06 the Commission received $18.1 million in appropriation funding, with the balance of its income ($20.1 million) coming from non-appropriation sources.

As the agency head, the Public Service Commissioner provides the staff necessary to assist the Merit Protection Commissioner to perform his functions under the Act. The arrangements for providing staff to the Merit Protection Commissioner are set out in a memorandum of understanding.

Commission structure

The Commission is led by a three-person Executive (the Public Service Commissioner, the Deputy Public Service Commissioner and the Merit Protection Commissioner) and has six groups. With the retirement of Ms Pat Turner AM in April 2006 her role as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Coordinator has ceased. Despite the discontinuation of the role, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment continues to be a priority for the Commission and the invaluable work performed by Ms Turner will be advanced through other avenues.

The Commission’s structure is based on six groups, each led by a Group Manager, with four groups mapping to the three output groups, a regional group with responsibilities across all three output groups, and a corporate group. The Commission’s organisational chart, with the names of senior staff as at 30 June 2006, is at Figure 1.

The Policy Group provides advice to government and agencies on the policy and legislative aspects of public administration, people management and employment frameworks within the APS Values and Code of Conduct. It is also responsible for international matters.

The Better Practice Group promotes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the APS through a range of strategic recruitment and career development initiatives. It also advises agencies on good practice on significant people management issues facing the APS, such as whole-of-government approaches, mature aged workers, workforce planning and performance management.

The Programmes Group builds the capability of the APS by providing a wide range of leadership, learning and development activities for all levels of APS staff, including senior executives.

The Evaluation Group evaluates and provides information on APS performance through the annual State of the Service Report to Parliament and through more specific evaluation and research projects. It maintains the APS Employment Database, monitors trends and publishes key workforce statistics.

The Regional Services Group represents the Commission throughout Australia, helping agencies with people management, including learning and development, promoting better practice, staff selection and review of employment-related actions.

The Corporate Group provides strategic management, information, financial, library, legal, parliamentary and support services to help the Commission achieve its mission. It also manages production of the Public Service Gazette.

Figure 1: Commission organisational chart at 30 June 2006

Output structure

For 2005–06, adjustments were made to the Commission’s output structure to simplify the delineation between our three main business lines:

APS policy and employment services
development programmes
better practice and evaluation.

The new structure reduces the output framework from five output groups to three. This change simplified the presentation of the Commission’s activities, providing for better reporting and better quality information. Any short term effect on year-on-year consistency is expected to be outweighed by this improvement.

This report reflects the changes made to the output framework.

Commission reports and publications

The Commission issues a range of information in a variety of formats each year relating to its functions. Commission publications and circulars, as well as speeches given by the Public Service Commissioner, are available on the Commission’s web site at www.apsc.gov.au.

Commission locations

The Commission’s national office is in Canberra and it has regional offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. APS agencies in the Northern Territory and Tasmania are serviced from the Adelaide and Melbourne offices respectively.

Office locations and contact details are:

Australian Capital Territory
Edmund Barton Building
BARTON ACT 2600
T: 02 6272 3977
F: 02 6272 3469
Helpline: 02 6272 3609

New South Wales
Level 16
447 Kent Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
T: 02 9286 2400
F: 02 9264 8379

Victoria
Level 6
303 Collins Street
MELBOURNE VIC. 3000
T: 03 8610 1522
F: 03 8610 1594

Queensland
Level 11
300 Ann Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
T: 07 3236 4877
F: 07 3221 0806

Western Australia
Level 1 St Georges Square
225 St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
T: 08 9226 1977
F: 08 9226 5977

South Australia
Level 4
Blackburn House
199 Grenfell Street
ADELAIDE SA 5000
T: 08 8224 0955
F: 08 8223 5866

Hobart is serviced through Melbourne

Darwin is serviced through Adelaide