Output 2: Leadership, performance and development in the APS

Cross-jurisdictional public sector development activities

Throughout 2002—03, the Commission continued to coordinate two Commonwealth/State/Territory training activities, the Public Services Training Package and the Public Sector Management Program, in addition the Commission was also closely involved in two more cross-jurisdictional development activities for senior executives, including the establishment of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) and the Public Sector Leaders’ Summits.

Public Service Education and Training Australia–Use and review of the Public Services Training Package

The Commission represents the Commonwealth as a Board member of Public Service Education and Training Australia (PSETA). PSETA is the public service industry's national body for vocational education and training (VET) and the Board consists of the Commonwealth, state and territory Public Service Commissioners and employee representatives. The main product of PSETA is the Public Services Training Package, which was endorsed by the Australian National Training Authority in November 1999. The Commission actively promotes the Package to APS agencies as an important training and development option that can underlie career management for many agencies.

Addressing training and development issues nationally has created a nationally consistent framework within which APS vocational training, education and recognition can occur, providing a better skilled and more mobile workforce. A national framework also creates a larger, unified market for public service training resulting in more quality training options being made available by private and institutional providers.

The Public Services Training Package provides individuals with clear skill and career pathways through recognised national qualifications and gives Commonwealth agencies access to the National Training Framework. The Training Package lists the skills or competencies used across Australian public services, breaks down each skill into levels, ranging from basic to advanced and packages those individual skills into twenty-two nationally recognised VET qualifications ranging from Certificate II level to Advanced Diploma level.

Ensuring the Training Package remains up to date is critical for it to support relevant training and recognition. In 2002—03, the Commission led Commonwealth participation in a review of the Public Services Training Package. Stage 1 identified parts of the existing Package requiring review and identified new skill areas which could benefit from competency standards and nationally recognised qualifications. Stage 2 commenced in December 2002 and consists of undertaking the work identified and agreed in Stage 1.

Existing skills identified by the Commonwealth for review include:

• procurement and contract management
• fraud investigation, prevention and detection
• human resources
• project management
• policy development.

New skill areas identified by the Commonwealth include:

• border control
• Government service delivery
• Government security management.

The Australian National Training Authority provided over $400,000 to PSETA to undertake review work identified by the Commonwealth and other PSETA jurisdictions. The Commission is undertaking a significant amount of the review work on behalf of PSETA ensuring the Commonwealth’s interests are reflected in the review Training Package. It is expected that the reviewed Training Package will be endorsed in December 2003.

In 2002—03 the Commission continued promoting informal links between its non-SES Development Programs and the Training Package. The links assist agencies to use the Training Package as part of their human resource development framework by identifying which nationally recognised skills are being developed by attendance at Commission Development Programs, and to which nationally recognised vocational education and training qualifications they contribute.

The Commission supports VET by maintaining a VET Network of over 120 contacts in 84 APS agencies who receive updates on how the Training Package can help their particular agency and on what other agencies are doing with the Training Package. The Commission promoted the Training Package at various local and national fora, in Commission publications and through regular VET Network fora.

Finally, the Commission worked to increase acceptance of the Training Package through providing expert industry advice on training course accreditation to local recognition and accreditation authorities, meeting with senior staff in agencies and presenting information publicly to a variety of APS networks. For example, the Commission provided technical advice to the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) on transitioning their current training program to one which leads to a Certificate IV in Government. The Commission also supported Centrelink by gaining acceptance for a government service delivery competency stream which will enable the full range of Centrelink technical training to result in nationally recognised qualifications for its staff.

Public Sector Management Program

The Commission continued to support quality people management by coordinating Commonwealth, state and territory participation in the Public Sector Management (PSM) Program and by providing secretariat services to a Board of Management that oversees the Program. Mr Lionel Woodward AO, CEO of the Australian Customs Service, is the current Chair of the Board.

The PSM Program was initiated in 1992 as a national strategy to deliver relevant and practical management training that reflects the changing expectations of the public sector. It is the pre-eminent management development program for public sector middle managers and is a joint venture between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.

In July 2002, a reviewed and rewritten PSM Program curriculum commenced. The new Program has received strong praise from Commonwealth students and their employers as both comprehensive and relevant to the workplace. It provides the full range of middle management skills and places them firmly in a public sector context. As anticipated, the new PSM Program has reversed a six-year decline in Commonwealth uptake of the Program, with Commonwealth new participants increasing from 106 in 2001—02 to 156 this year.

Since its inception in 1992, a total of 7689 participants have undertaken the Program, of whom 2111 were Commonwealth employees. By 30 June 2003, 2906 participants had graduated from the PSM Program, of whom 801 were Commonwealth employees.

The new Program has been designed according to distance learning principles, allowing it to be flexibly delivered and reducing the amount of time required out of the workplace. In addition, an online component has been developed which supports more flexible delivery models and will allow further use of the Program by non-metropolitan public sector managers.

Program graduates receive a graduate certificate qualification from Griffith University, Macquarie University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology or Curtin University. Successful completion of the Program is the sole entry requirement into a Masters in Public Policy and Leadership program which has been specially developed to build on the PSM Program’s skills and knowledge. It is anticipated that this option will significantly increase the attractiveness of the Program to Commonwealth staff.

Australia and New Zealand School of Government

The Commonwealth became a member of the cross-jurisdictional Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) in September 2002, and is represented on the Foundation Board by the Public Service Commissioner. ANZSOG is a first-tier professional school established collaboratively by a consortium of Australian and New Zealand Governments, universities and business schools, to provide world-class education and training to emerging public sector leaders.

The Commonwealth’s commitment to the School reflects the importance the Government places on ensuring a smart, responsive public sector with effective leadership and the capacity to meet future challenges.

Thirty Commonwealth public servants at the senior middle management level commenced the two-year Executive Masters program, from 17 departments and agencies, with 127 participants in the program overall, from participating jurisdictions. Twenty Commonwealth public servants at the SES Band 3 and high-performing SES Band 2 levels will participate in the inaugural Executive Fellows Program from 31 August, with 60 others.

The Commission, in consultation with other agencies, has been actively involved in the development of ANZSOG to ensure the school meets the needs of the Australian Public Service and provides value for money. The Commissioner will also represent the Commonwealth on the ANZSOG Research Committee.

The Commonwealth’s commitment to participate in ANZSOG is for the APS Commission to work with agencies to ensure participation by at least 50 students per year, for three years, starting in 2003. Consideration is also being given to provide some funds to help the School establish a strong research collaboration amongst participating institutions, which is highly relevant to the concerns of jurisdictions.

Public Sector Leaders’ Summits

The Commission assumed the coordination role of the 2002—03 round of Public Sector Leaders’ Summits following dissatisfaction with previous arrangements, and strong support for the Commission’s contribution. The Summits are a joint venture of the Commonwealth, state, territory and New Zealand Public Service Commissioners. They provide a highly interactive opportunity to extend the strategic thinking and future orientation of very senior executives, typically at the Deputy Secretary level, and to inform high-level policy development and public sector initiatives. The 2002—03 Summits, with an attendance of 66, focused on working across boundaries both in delivering services and within public sector agencies. In addition to the summits, three workshops were offered to human resource practitioners to further develop their expertise.

While the program received positive responses from participants overall, jurisdictions decided to suspend the program pending clarification of the role of the ANZSOG Fellowships Program, which is directed at the same high level executives.

Figure 11: Average price for cross-jurisdictional public sector development