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Last updated: : 25 August 2003
Embedding the APS Values
Please note: These documents are for reference purposes only and are no longer considered by the APS Commission to be current. They may contain good practice advice and/or advice on the transitional arrangements between the 1922 and 1999 Public Service Acts.
1. Overall framework
Embedding the Australian Public Service (APS) Values into the culture of an agency requires action at two levels:
- grouping the Values—a simple clarification by the Public Service Commissioner of the Values so that they can be more easily explained to APS employees across the Service, and
- promoting and upholding the Values—a holistic approach by each agency to build the robust management environment necessary to promote and uphold the Values, and to inspire public trust and organisational performance.
2: Grouping the Values
Values-based management is about relationships and behaviours. For the APS, it is about our relationships with the government and the parliament, our relationship with the public, relationships in the workplace, and personal behaviours.
3: Promoting and upholding the Values
Promoting and upholding the Values requires commitment from the top reflected throughout the organisation, management processes and systems that at all times reinforce the Values, and assurance arrangements that demonstrate how the Values are being upheld and identify any areas of weakness that need to be addressed.
4: Embedding particular values and groups of values
This section identifies some particular examples of good practice in promoting and upholding each of these groups of Values, and some individual Values. As mentioned, some Values could be mapped to more than one group, and this section refers to some of these interactions.
5: Supporting evidence-Results of agency studies
The six agency studies examined both agency strategies for embedding the Values and employee views of the effectiveness of those strategies.
6: Supporting evidence-International and Australian experience
International and Australian research links organisational ethics with high levels of employee performance and the capacity to attract and retain staff
