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Last updated: 9 March 2006
Supporting Ministers, Upholding the Values
Appendix 7: Resources
Australian Public Service Commission
The Australian Public Service Commission has published a range of resources relating to embedding and adhering to the APS Values. This includes a case study on embedding the APS Values in policies and procedures for serving Ministers. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/values/casestudy13.htm.
There is a discussion of how to apply the APS Values of responsiveness, accountability and remaining apolitical in Chapter 2 of the Australian Public Service Commission publication, APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice: A Guide to Official Conduct for APS Employees and Agency Heads. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/values/conductguidelines4.htm.
Foundations of Governance in the Australian Public Service, published by the Australian Public Service Commission in 2005, provides a substantive overview of agency heads’ obligations and responsibilities and canvasses the key elements of the legislative and policy framework within which agency heads operate. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/foundations and is linked to relevant legislation and policy guidance.
The former Public Service Commissioner has discussed many relevant issues in:
- ‘Managing the Interface with Ministers and the Parliament’, Senior Executive Service Breakfast presentation, 23 April 2004. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/media/podger230404.htm.
- a round table discussion before the Senate Select Committee on A Certain Maritime Incident on 18 April 2002. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/media/podger180402.htm.
- ‘Beyond Westminster: Defining an Australian Approach to the Roles and Values of the Public Service in the 21st Century’ (Address to IPAA Seminar), 2 May 2002. It is available at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/media/podger020502.htm.
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Prime Minister has commented on the appropriate roles for Ministerial staff , as well as giving guidance to ensure they avoid conflicts of interest, in the Prime Minister’s Guide on Key Elements of Ministerial Responsibility (1998) at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet issues guidance on caretaker conventions. These are for observation during the caretaker period, which is one of the especially sensitive periods for relationships between the Government and the APS. These are available at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet also issues general guidance to assist agencies with the preparation of documents for presentation to the Parliament. These are often supplemented by more detailed processes within individual agencies. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet guidance is available at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm.
Guidance on appearing before parliamentary committees is available in the Government Guidelines for Official Witnesses before Parliamentary Committees and Related Matters (November 1989), which is available on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s website at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm.
Cabinet Handbook, 5th edn (March 2004). It is available at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm.
The Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has given a perspective on relations between the public service and Ministers in a speech ‘Two Cheers for the Bureaucracy’, delivered at a lunchtime seminar in June 2003. It is available at: http://www.pmc.gov.au/docs/Shergold1306.cfm.
Other resources (including online resources)
In May 2003, the Australian National Audit Office released its Better Practice Guide on Administration of Grants. The Guide is available at: http://www.anao.gov.au.
In April 2003, the Australian National Audit Office released a newly updated Better Practice Guide on Managing Parliamentary Workflow. It is available at: http://www.anao.gov.au.
In November 2001, the Australian National Audit Office released its Better Practice Principles for Developing Policy Advice. It is available at: http://www.anao.gov.au.
In May 2002, the Australian National Audit Office released its audit report on Recordkeeping. This is available at: http://www.anao.gov.au.
Australian National Audit office, Taxation Reform—Community Education and Information Program, Performance Audit Report No. 12, October 1998. It is available at: http://www.anao.gov.au.
The FedInfo website hosts material and links related to the Parliament and policy, specifically for public servants. The relevant area of the site is at: http://www.fedinfo.gov.au/policy/. (now http://www.australia.gov.au/Public_Servants)
The report of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit’s Inquiry into the Community Education and Information Program, Guidelines for Government Advertising, October 2000, is available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jpaa/CEIP/contents.htm.
Legal Practice Briefings can be obtained from the Australian Government Solicitor’s website at: http://www.ags.gov.au. Briefings relevant to this guide are:
Legal practice briefing No. 72: Administrative rearrangements concerning ministers, departments and other Commonwealth bodies, and APS employees and other Commonwealth officials, often follow a general election. This issue assists those affected by these rearrangements to better understand the constitutional and statutory framework that governs action taken to ensure the successful implementation of the proposed changes. The briefing also outlines the impact that the prorogation of the Parliament and the dissolution of the House of Representatives has had on particular parliamentary business. The matters discussed in this briefing often involve government practice, as well as law. (29 October 2004)
Legal practice briefing No. 74: Aims to assist clients in the administration of their delegations and authorisations by outlining the nature of powers of delegation and authorisation and the legal principles relevant to them. (14 December 2004)
The National Archives of Australia has provided advice for all APS employees on good record keeping. This is available at: http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/default.html.
Where to get more advice
The Australian Public Service Commission runs courses on caretaker conventions when elections are approaching.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Government Division can provide advice on issues that arise for agencies, and is an important port of call regarding caretaker conventions during an election period.
Further reading
The following readings are for those interested in the issues. They are not necessarily focused on good practice advice, but concern the relationship between the APS and the Government and the Parliament.
A.J. Ayers, ‘Not Like the Good Old Days’, Garran Oration, Australian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 55, No. 2, June 1996, pp. 3–12.
Roger Beale, ‘Ministerial Responsibility for Administrative Actions: Some Observations of a Public Service Practitioner’, Agenda, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2002, pp. 291–305.
A. Behm, L. Bennington and J. Cummane, ‘A Value-Creating Model for Effective Policy Services’, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 19, No. 3, 2000, pp.162–78.
Ian Hancock, ‘The VIP Affair 1966–67: The Causes, Course and Consequences of a Ministerial and Public Service Cover-Up’, Australasian Parliamentary Review, Vol.18, No. 2, Spring 2003.
Management Advisory Board and Management Improvement Advisory Committee, Delegated Authority Handbook, AGPS, Canberra, 1994 (explores issues related to delegation); Legal Issues: A Guide for Policy Development and Administration, AGPS, Canberra, 1994 (explores managers’ approaches to and management of legal issues).
John Uhr and Keith Mackay (eds), Evaluating Policy Advice: Learning from Commonwealth Experience, Federalism Research Centre and Commonwealth Department of Finance, Canberra, 1996.
