The APS is not achieving its own targets to recruit and retain more First Nations to the ranks of the commonwealth public service, and the woman charged with helping the government implement policies to improve the lives of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples says something needs to change.
Jody Broun has told an audience of public servants at an IPAA ACT event that more Indigenous voices need to be brought into decision-making processes and be heard at a workforce level for better recruitment of First Nations staff.
“We need to start by offering greater access to flexible work arrangements, built-in professional development programs [to] enable career progression, and open up a range of opportunities to attract and retain talent,” Broun said.
"Our culture in the APS needs to embrace people, not push them away."
Jody Broun on how to inspire more First Nations people to work in the public service.#ipaaevents #HelenWilliamsOration2022 pic.twitter.com/UHfoRpYpAb
— IPAA ACT (@IPAAACT) November 7, 2022
To take the lead on the government’s Jobs & Skills Summit work, Broun noted, the APS’s approach to recruitment needed to improve its work to attract Indigenous talent.
“We’re all looking at the same people, particularly for specialised roles, and particularly for First Nations people. We’re actually competing against each other for the same people and we’re also competing against a very high-paying private sector in some cases,” she said.
So far, the commonwealth public service is falling short of its recruitment target of 5% by the end of this year as outlined in the ATSI workforce strategy 2020-2024, and the median length of service for First Nations staff is eight years less than their non-Indigenous colleagues.
The situation was “miles off” from the goal, Broun said.
“We’d have to employ another 1,000 people between now and the end of the year to make [the 2022] target.
“If people aren’t staying in the public service, we need to ask ourselves that hard question: what is it about the cultural environment or the opportunities for progression that means we don’t hang on to them?,” Broun said.
The National Indigenous Australians Agency was established in 2019 to lead and coordinate commonwealth policy development, program design and implementation and service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Broun, a Yinjibarndi woman from the Pilbara in WA, was appointed to lead the agency as its CEO in February this year.
“Our purpose is simple — to work in genuine partnership to enable the self-determination and aspirations of First Nations communities and to lead and influence change across government to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a say in the decisions that affect them,” Broun said.
“Recognising that each community’s unique, we achieve this through a fairly large national footprint — 70 locations across Australia. And that allows us to work closely with community, it also helps us to really know them and to be a neighbour.”
Broun said that for the first time, the Indigenous affairs portfolio had three ministers responsible, with Linda Burney, Malarndirri McCarthy and special envoy Patrick Dodson. She observed this presented both opportunities and challenges for public servants working in the space, but that it was exciting to see such diverse First Nations representation across the country in parliament.
“Now we have this very strong voice in parliament, not just in the Labor party, but across the parliament – and that’s great to see,” Broun said.
Reflecting on the work that public servants in her agency and across the service had ahead of them to bring about the referendum for a Voice to Parliament and meet Closing the Gap priorities, Broun conceded the “exciting times” also came with a daunting sense of responsibility.
“In terms of the three ministers, how we need to work with them, and what is a very ambitious First Nations agenda that needs to be delivered, it can be a bit daunting at times.
“[It stems from] that expectation, not just from the political elements but also from the community, and what they’re expecting over the next two years,” Broun said.
“We don’t really have an option to fail on this, we have to succeed in what is an ambitious agenda. [Thinking] about the election cycle, we’ve got a couple of years to do it,” she added.
The head of the NIAA made her remarks as part of the 2022 Helen Williams Oration in Canberra this week.
Williams retired from the APS in 2009 and was a trailblazing public sector leader, collecting a number of ‘firsts’ during her career, including as one of the first women to lead a commonwealth department at the age of 39. She also served as the APS commissioner from 1998 to 2002.
In a Q&A with Broun following the address, department of employment and workplace relations secretary Natalie James reflected on Williams’ “remarkable career”.
“She was the trailblazer for all of us really, breaking that glass ceiling for many of us to follow,” James said.
“We now have 52% of women and senior executive roles, but we know it’s not just about the numbers, and I’m really pleased about the government’s focus on gender equity.”
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