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Not Just a Job

The Commissioner

Lynelle Briggs
Lynelle Briggs is the Public Service Commissioner. She has held this position since November 2004.

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Speech for the Australian Public Service Commissioner for the launch of the Indigenous employment publications

Thursday 25^th May 2006

Good afternoon and welcome

Thank you, Minister, for your words and for launching our publications. Your recognition of these resources well reflects their worth.

In looking around the room I am heartened to see not only so many of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues and friends, but also some of our wonderful Indigenous leaders in the APS.

You have undertaken some enormously challenging and rewarding work that has seen you become role models for your communities, for other Indigenous staff, and for your colleagues in the wider public service.

Your stories powerfully illustrate that working in the Australian Public Service is not just a job.

For many it has been a life-changing experience of learning, growing, challenges, achievements, rewards and satisfaction. This is what we are hearing from many of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues in the public service. It’s a message that we want others to hear.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees have given voice to their own stories about working in the APS in the publications the Minister launched today. These publications have provided important opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have their say. It is now vital that we hear their voices and respond accordingly.

We know that Indigenous representation in the Australian Public Service has been falling steadily over the last few years – it’s now at 2.2% of all public servants.

Secretaries are working hard to change this trend.

We want to attract more Indigenous Australians to the public service because they see it as a good place to work.
We want to truly value and support our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
We want them to stay in the APS because they believe that it is not just a job but, rather, that it is a positive, supportive and valuable life choice.

To help us work out how to reverse this trend and achieve these aims we decided to ask Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees about the issues behind this trend and how they might best be tackled.

In November last year the Australian Public Service Commission invited all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to express their views about employment in the public service through a census survey. We got a 59% response rate to the census.. so the results are solid.

The census report launched today by the Minister summarises the findings from the survey. It also highlights some challenges for public service managers.

The findings of the census reveal some notable positive features on Indigenous employment in the APS. In particular, job satisfaction rates for Indigenous employees are very high. In fact they are slightly higher than job satisfaction rates for APS employees overall. Most Indigenous APS employees get fulfilment from their jobs.

The census also tells us that they experience good working relationships in the APS; they appreciate the chance to make a useful contribution to Indigenous Australians; the value the flexible working arrangements offered by the APS; and the welcome the opportunities the public service affords to develop their skills.

For example, some respondents to the survey told us that they love their jobs and get real satisfaction from them and would happily recommend the public service as an employer of choice. Others said that the work conditions they currently have are the best that they have ever had throughout their lives.

There is also a very high level of pride amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees about working in the APS. This pride is related, among other things, to the opportunity public service employment provides to help improve the lives of other Indigenous Australians. Indeed, many census respondents noted that the ability to contribute positively to improved outcomes for Indigenous Australians is a primary motivator for them in their career.

Indigenous employees were also positive about their career development opportunities in the APS. The majority of respondents felt that they have the same opportunities to develop their careers, and the same access to learning and development, as non-Indigenous employees.

Most respondents also told us that the majority of their colleagues work sensitively and effectively with Indigenous employees. They also considered their supervisors to be effective at managing people. And most respondents also reported that they are satisfied with the support provided by their workplace in meeting their cultural and community obligations. These are good results.

But, of course, the survey results are not all rosy. Working in the APS can also be difficult at times for Indigenous people.

A number of respondents indicated that they had been subjected to bullying, harassment or discrimination in the workplace over the last twelve months. Some respondents also indicated that they would think of leaving the APS because of their lack of job satisfaction, feeling under-valued, a lack of workplace support or poor management.

Pretty fundamental issues.

And most respondents thought their agencies could be doing more to support the employment, development and promotion of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

As managers and leaders we need to hear these messages and take action. We can always do more and do better.

The good news is that under the Government’s APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees we are already implementing various initiatives to address many of these issues.

A crucial challenge is to increase the capability of Indigenous people.

We know that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are generally employed at lower levels and have lower levels of education than APS employees overall. Fifty-seven per cent of Indigenous staff are employed at APS 1-4 levels. The census tells us that only a quarter or Indigenous employees have tertiary qualifications compared with half of other employees and only 23% of new Aboriginal starters had these qualifications compared with 67% of other new starters.

This difference in educational qualification is evident amongst new recruits - the average Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander new starter is an APS 1 with formal educational qualifications to Year 10 compared to a typical non-Indigenous new starter in the APS who is at the APS 3 level and holds a graduate qualification.

Our aim is to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to build their skills and be more competitive for a broader range of APS positions.

The Commission has a number of initiatives underway to help improve capability levels of Indigenous Australians.

Our pathways to employment initiatives are progressing well. The Indigenous graduate programme brought 25 new tertiary graduates into the public service this year and we anticipate an even greater intake in 2007.

The National Indigenous Cadetship Project saw 32 new Indigenous cadets start in the public service this year, and we aim to better this next year. Cadetships are particularly valuable as they assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get tertiary qualifications.

We will be coordinating an expanded APS Indigenous traineeship programme this year. This will build on the successful trainee pilot we ran last year. Traineeships provide a wonderful mechanism for bringing people with limited experience into the public service and supporting them to develop their skills, gain relevant qualifications and begin their working life.

All these pathways to employment give Indigenous people a great start in commencing their careers. They give people a foot in the door to help them towards a stepped progression to work at higher levels and in different areas.

To support the career progression of existing APS Indigenous employees we are currently running career development workshops, free of charge, for Indigenous APS 1 to 6 officers in regional locations across the country.

We expect over 400 Indigenous employees to participate in these workshops. They are being very well received and greatly appreciated.

We have also set up an Indigenous Capability Fund to provide ongoing career development support to Indigenous employees in small and medium sized agencies.

Getting a foot in the door is often one of the hardest steps.

The Getting a Job booklet the Minister launched today aims to help Indigenous people get that foot in the APS door. It de-mystifies the APS recruitment process and explains how to apply for jobs in the public service. It specifically explains how to address selection criteria – which is often a major barrier to people applying for jobs.

Another key challenge for us as APS managers is to encourage the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a much greater diversity of roles. The census confirmed the concentration of Indigenous employees in areas that provide services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community – 78% work in service delivery and almost half deliver services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community: For many people this is a personal choice. But there is also greater scope for Indigenous people to work in any part of the public service, mainstream or Indigenous-related, depending on their own preferences. The census tells us that we need to do more to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to see this as an option.

The APS would gain much from using the skills and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in a much greater range of areas. This is also likely to put the careers of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS on much more sustainable footing. The APS would particularly benefit from attracting new Indigenous staff into more senior and leadership roles. This is further challenge for us.

Encouraging Indigenous employees to stay in the public service is considerable challenge. There is little point in attracting more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into the APS if we don’t look after them properly when they are here. They will only walk back out the door. And, that’s what some of them seem to be doing at the moment, as our separation rates are higher than I’d like.

We must continue to improve the quality of workplace support across all areas of the public service. We must deal with discrimination and harassment by the minority. We must put more effort into encouraging culturally appropriate behaviour amongst all APS employees. And we must instil an ethos of cultural consciousness across the whole public service.

Towards these ends, the Commission is currently working on the development of better practice guides about better recruitment and management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These will be on-line interactive resources targeted at APS managers.

The first of these is expected to be completed by the end of the year and we will run a series of seminars to introduce it across the public service. The success of the better practice guides will depend on the commitment of APS managers at all levels from all agencies to taking them on board.

The census reiterated the fall in representation in the public service of the younger Indigenous age group; the under 25s. We know there is much potential to target this market. This is one of the main target audiences for our booklets - Indigenous high school and tertiary students. We will be distributing the booklets widely to reach these potential employees.

We have also found that Indigenous employees knew very little about the APS before joining it. We realise there is a strong need to promote the APS as an attractive place for Indigenous people to work and as a good stepping stone for those people and their families into higher socio-economic situations.

Let me return to where I started. Working in the Australian Public Service is not just a job. It can be a personal and professional journey of learning, growing, challenges, achievements, rewards and satisfaction. It can be a path of opportunities and experiences. It can be a way to contribute to community and to influence change. It can provide financial security, personal confidence, professional development and social networks.

The voices of the Indigenous employees who are profiled in the Not Just a Job booklet and poster reflect these messages. They acknowledge that not only does the APS offer excellent pay and conditions, career development, and diverse and interesting work, but that it also provides opportunities to make a real and lasting difference to society.

They tell stories of people finding better futures for themselves and their communities. They reveal how working in the APS can provide a sense of direction and stability in life. They encourage others to believe in themselves, to believe that they too can create brilliant careers for themselves if they put their minds to it.

I would like to finish by acknowledging the many Indigenous employees who have contributed to these publications.

To the 1,554 employees who provided responses to the census survey – many thanks. Without your responses we would not have a report to release or concrete findings to respond to. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated.

And to the 19 Indigenous employees who added their voices to the Not Just a Job publication - and I know many of you are here with us today – I thank you for your courage, honesty and willingness to share. It is your voices in the end that will be heard by other Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, and that may spark a flame or sow a seed, and ultimately set others on the journey.

Working in the APS is not just a job.

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