Delivering with integrity will be a key focus of the Australian Public Service Commission in 2024.
Delivering a keynote address at The Mandarin’s Trust and Integrity conference, Australian Public Service commissioner Gordon de Brouwer has laid out a vision for a public service that takes ethics as seriously as efficiency.
“Ethical delivery is really seen very widely by the public service as intrinsically worthwhile and it’s well within our grasp,” he said.
“It’s really a moral or driving imperative for the vast majority of people, but it’s also the law. They’re analogous to the Hippocratic oath of doctors.
“We’re not talking about a world or a state that’s removed from us. It’s one that many of us live every day, and we can see it, and we want it.”
Robodebt was a running theme for speakers at the conference, as an example of how things can go wrong when more attention is paid to efficiency than service delivery.
To de Brouwer, the weakness this exposed wasn’t the wrongdoing of individual mandarins, but a failure of structures to force adequate consideration of the effect of the scheme on customers.
The robodebt royal commission exposed ministerial involvement in the scheme, showing that while it was designed by public servants, its implementation supported the former government’s welfare enforcement goals.
The fact this was done without due consideration of advice it was illegal is secondary in many ways to the fact that structured decision-making processes didn’t compel consideration of the effect it would have on vulnerable customers.
“I acknowledge that robodebt and other reports have had a profound impact on confidence in the public sector and public servants.
“I want to say to you everything I see in the service is our absolute intention is to show you we’re honest, we’re trustworthy, and we take responsibility for what we do when we make mistakes and do things wrong. We learn. We improve.”
De Brouwer said the public service values have been articulated by the Public Service Commission, but need to be better integrated into decision-making.
The issue is one of knowing how those values apply to the day-to-day work of most public servants. Across de Brouwer’s experience in the public service, he said, he has seen people grapple with ethical issues, and come out on top.
These include things like providing undesirable advice to ministers or advice against their personal beliefs.
De Brouwer said integrating ethics in the decision-making process would result in a kind of kismet for public servants, where intent, timing, and service delivery all support each other.
“Integrity is not a narrow technical concept. It’s not at all whether an action can be done, but whether it should be done, and whether it’s right,” he said.
“The law and the guidance are actually very clear about those words.”
APSC is taking a three-part approach to embedding good behaviour in the public service
First is about the behaviours expected, bringing together the what and how, laid out in the APS values, Code of Conduct, and Employment principles. These are statutory obligations.
Second, is offering guidance at a department level to work through ethics and integrity problems and risk management.
Third is disciplinary action, which can be taken by the commission when they believe it’s warranted. Brereton said it was important in these cases to balance the rights of the worker and the rights of the public.
Corrupt actions demand punishment, but simple mistakes can be inaccurately seen as corruption. To this end, he said, it was important workers had access to due process, and discipline was a last resort.
The core issue, echoed by NACC commissioner Paul Brereton, is one of culture. The two agreed that the Senior Executive Service had a particular role in setting standards for the rest of the service.
“These things are for all of us, but SES officers and agency heads have a special responsibility … That 3,250 or so people in a workforce of 170,000 really need to set the one,” de Brouwer said.
“Leaders can prevent, they can mitigate, or they can amplify and create problems.
“It’s really important to think deliberately around ethics — that’s part of your job.”
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