State of the Service

There has been a negative reaction to disconnected NMHC SES, with more than half of staff polled saying they want to leave ASAP.

There are structural and cultural roadblocks facing APS women that will not budge if there is an organisational preoccupation with parents.

The Australian Public Service Commission kicked off its 2023 State of the Service Roadshow on Thursday in the ACT.

Fatigue is setting in among the APS, and leaders are regrouping to try and figure out what is needed to build better resilience.

The Community and Public Sector Union says the Morrison government’s cuts to the Australian Public Service workforce have worsened the economic effects of the drought, by removing over 1000 jobs from struggling regional communities since 2013.

On the eve of reform, guided by the upcoming Thodey review, the Australian Public Service Commissioner’s biggest concern is change management. Only 39% of public servants think their agency manages change well. Peter Woolcott’s second APS State of the Service Report arranges the new data, analysis, and better-practice case studies around two themes — culture […]

Just over half of federal public servants and 70% of senior executives reported capability gaps in their work groups, when asked for their views on the matter this year for the first time, according to the 2018-19 State of the Service Report.

Two in five APS employees wonder what their senior officials are contributing to the agency’s work. These ‘missing-in-action’ executives might want to update their New Year’s resolutions, writes Verona Burgess.

Women have overtake men in all salary bands except the very top, reflecting a trend of more women in executive roles. Meanwhile, increases in other monitored equal opportunity groups such as culturally diverse and Aboriginal representation have been more modest.

The turmoil of APS cuts, enterprise bargaining and cabinet instability stand in contrast to the stable, happy relationships most federal public servants have with their immediate supervisors. APSC says this is its key strength.

The Australian Public Service Commissioner has been clear for months that his agency is among those leading the shift to modern reporting standards — spacing information out and keeping it concise — but you can’t please everyone.

Is anyone measuring government’s social media engagement to see how it’s working beyond racking up “likes” and retweets? Digital engagement must take the next step.

The public service is well-led, resilient and effective, the commissioner says. But don’t forget the long-term capability and policy planning, even if the current government isn’t interested.