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Last updated: July 2006
Introduction
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This guide provides information on the key responsibilities of Australian Public Service (APS) agency heads who are also chief executives under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act). Heads of agencies that are not subject to the FMA Act, and heads of non-APS Australian Government bodies may also find this Guide useful as a starting point to consider their statutory and Government policy obligations. It includes links to relevant policies, legislation and agency websites. The emphasis is primarily on the legislative and related Australian Government policy obligations of agency heads that apply in the context of agency head responsibility for managing the agency. Less emphasis has been placed on legislative and Government policy obligations that affect specific programme responsibilities of agencies.
The APS, as defined in the Public Service Act 1999 , consists of agency heads (the secretaries of Departments of State, the heads of executive agencies and the heads of statutory agencies) and APS employees .
There are more than 80 agencies subject to the Public Service Act. These are classified as Departments of State, executive agencies or statutory agencies.
- Departments of State are established, under the Constitution, by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister. secretaries of Departments are appointed by the Prime Minister for a period of up to 5 years (section 58(1) of the Public Service Act).
- Executive agencies are generally non-statutory bodies established by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister. The agency head is appointed by, and directly accountable to, the Minister responsible for the agency. The purpose of the Executive agency structure is to provide a degree of separation from departmental management where that is appropriate to the functions of the agency and something less than a statutory authority is warranted.
- Statutory agencies are bodies or groups of persons declared by an Act to be a Statutory agency for the purposes of the Public Service Act. The enabling legislation also sets out the arrangements for the appointment and termination of the agency head and their specific powers, responsibilities and accountability requirements.
For the current list of APS agencies, see the Australian Public Service Commission document APS agencies.
Departments of State, executive agencies and most statutory agencies1 (collectively referred to as agencies for the purposes of this Guide) are also ‘prescribed agencies’ for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act).
The various legislative and policy obligations of agency heads provide a basis for decision making, accountability and agency management. However, not all obligations that an agency head may have are covered by this Guide.
- For example, agency heads are required to comply with general Australian law. This guide does not provide comprehensive information on all legal obligations. It focuses on those obligations that are more closely related to the APS environment or to other laws that apply in the APS environment.
- In addition, heads of a Statutory agency will also have obligations under their enabling legislation.
The information provided by this guide is not intended to replace legal advice or specific advice from the responsible agency.
Download Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service
(PDF download 826kb)The PDF is correct as of 1 June 2005 and may not contain changes included in the internet reference.
1 Of the agencies subject to the Public Service Act, about three-quarters are prescribed agencies under the FMA Act. The bulk of the remainder are bodies under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act). A small number of agencies are partially subject to the CAC Act. For a list of bodies subject to the FMA and CAC Acts, click on the link below:
http://www.finance.gov.au/finframework/fma_agencies.html
