Home > Embedding the APS Values

The passage of the PS Act brought into effect a policy and legislative framework that placed an emphasis on values-based decision making. The APS Values (the Values) contained within the PS Act set out a common framework of relationships and behaviours within which different agencies can drive different business tasks and all agencies can respond quickly to changing circumstances, while still adhering to the shared responsibilities of the APS with integrity. A values-based framework has been shown to build public trust in an organisation’s activities, increasing its overall effectiveness, while allowing flexibility and agility.

Last year’s State of the Service report commented at length on the outcomes of the APS Commission’s 2002—03 evaluation of how agencies were embedding the Values and Code of Conduct in their processes and practices– the Values in Agencies project. The project resulted in a good practice guide, Embedding the APS Values, that identified a number of factors that are critical to integrating the Values in agency business processes, including:

• the importance of leadership in each agency in promoting the message that the Values are relevant and should be taken seriously
• employees’ perceptions of the extent to which senior managers in the agency model behaviour consistent with the Values
• the availability of training and other information about the Values and ethical behaviour within each agency
• the integration of the Values into key corporate documents, especially service/client charters, Chief Executive Instructions (CEIs) and performance management arrangements
• the use of assurance mechanisms such as staff surveys to ensure that Values strategies remain focussed and effective.

This chapter examines the progress that the APS has made on the matters identified in the good practice guide.