Stephanie Foster: Building a culture of openness, integrity, excellence and collaboration

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Stephanie Foster became secretary of Home Affairs last November following the very public removal of Mike Pezzullo.

Pezzullo was sacked after an independent inquiry found he breached the APS Code of Conduct “on at least 14 occasions in relation to five overarching allegations”. These included using “his duty, power, status or authority to seek to gain a benefit or advantage for himself” and engaging “in gossip and disrespectful critique of ministers and public servants”.

Given these circumstances, Foster was handed the daunting task of rehabilitating the staff and leadership of Home Affairs while setting a clear path forward at a time of increasing national security pressures and uncertainty.

In this revealing instalment of The Mandarin’s Secretary’s Sticky Notes series, our annual series in which we ask departmental leaders five questions about their role and what they expect to face this year, Foster explains how she wants to rebuild culture, and nominates her priorities and challenges for 2024.

What was your 2023 highlight?

In the top job, my highlight was undoubtedly steering the organisation through the unexpected departure of the former secretary, in circumstances which could have really derailed the department. I was particularly proud of the way the staff kept delivering without missing a beat, and how the leadership team came together so strongly to provide a sense of calm and continuity. It speaks volumes about the organisation’s capability, professionalism and commitment.

But, of course, I spent most of 2023 as associate secretary of Immigration, a fantastic job with a fantastic team, and an absolute career highlight. It was enormously fulfilling to be able to deliver the migration strategy, provide a pathway to permanence for the temporary protection visa holders, transfer the residual cohort from Nauru, and clear the visa backlogs – but absolutely top of the pops for me was to see the sense of pride and purpose re-emerge in our Immigration team, to see our nation building mission again recognised and celebrated by all.

What will be at the top of your agenda for 2024?

Helping keep Australia prosperous, united and safe!

On the policy front, this means implementing the two major strategies released by the government at the end of 2023 on migration and cyber security, and refreshing our approach to counter-terrorism in 2024. We also have a critical mission to protect Australian critical infrastructure, which means literally keeping the lights on and our country functioning. Finally, as the lead secretary for protective security in the commonwealth, I’ll have a particular focus on all of the corporate elements of the department, from integrity and people services to physical security settings and technology security.

Internally our focus will be the work we started last year on refreshing our culture, building on our strengths, building capability and fostering a culture of openness, integrity, excellence and collaboration. This latter quality will underpin one of our greatest opportunities – to be a trusted and engaged partner and collaborator across government, industry and the international community, and, of course, the community we serve.

The challenges that we are tackling impact all of society and the economy — be it immigration flows, social cohesion, cyber security, national security, or the movement of goods and services across the border.  So we need to supercharge our progress towards a culture that delivers a stronger sense of personal agency, engagement and appreciation by staff of the benefits that greater collaboration can deliver.  That will unlock the full capability that exists within this amazing portfolio.

What is your department’s biggest issue … or opportunity?

The thing that excites me most is the chance to rethink Home Affairs now the dust has settled on the leadership change.

Many of the fundamentals stay the same – we must first play our part in keeping Australia safe with robust, adaptable, well-informed policies and operational systems to combat terrorism, foreign interference, and cyber crime. We must play a strong role in Australia’s national resilience with partners in Defence and the National Emergency Management Agency and elsewhere. We must ensure our immigration system operates in Australia’s interests, bringing in the migrants we need for our future prosperity, building strong integrity measures into our end-to-end system, and protecting those who may be vulnerable to exploitation. And we must keep our borders secure.

How we do that, and how we integrate our complementary functions, is the exciting question. There is enormous potential to bring these complementary functions closer together, and to leverage the policies and capabilities of them all. Social cohesion is a great example of this — it begins with the first touch point a potential migrant has with our visa system, and continues with their progress through the citizenship process, how they benefit from and contribute to our multicultural policies and how safe they feel from pressures like foreign interference.

What do you expect will be your biggest leadership challenge?

In a word, patience! And if I can have a second, persistence. With 15,000 people spread all around Australia and the globe, it’s going to take time and sustained effort to reach all staff, engage them meaningfully in shaping our future, deliver consistent leadership and messages, and show progress. But we have all the right ingredients — a unified and talented leadership team, a workforce that is hungry for positive change, and a mission that is intrinsically inspiring.

What advice do you have for those wanting a career in the APS?

At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, I’ve just proudly celebrated my 37^th anniversary in the APS, nearly four decades rich with opportunity and joy. For me the key has been doing what I love, giving it my all, embracing whatever comes, and building enduring, supportive relationships. I joined the then Defence Signals Directorate as a graduate straight from uni, and fell in love with its mission – so much so that I thought I’d never leave. But I was coaxed into Defence HQ after 16 years, and fell in love with international policy – and then after another six or seven years was persuaded to try the outside world, and discovered the incredible impact of domestic policy.

Having the chance to work closely with the people whose lives you are influencing is an incredible privilege, as I have done particularly in my time with the Department of Regional Australia and as associate secretary, Immigration. And to be immersed in the inner workings of the APS as deputy APS commissioner and into the government from PM&C gave me fascinating insights very few people ever get!

So in short, seize every opportunity, follow your heart, work hard, treat people well, and you will find great fulfilment. But most of all, be yourself and have fun!