APS Reform agenda
APS Reform is strengthening the Australian Public Service, supporting it to better serve the Government, the Parliament and the Australian people.
The APS Reform agenda is a comprehensive public sector reform program, delivering tangible results and steady, scalable change across the service.
Amendments to the Public Service Act 1999 entered into force from 11 December 2024. These amendments locked in key APS Reform initiatives to strengthen the APS core values, build APS capability and expertise, and support good governance, accountability and transparency.
Changes to the Public Service Act included:
- adding a new APS Value of Stewardship
- encouraging decision-making at the lowest appropriate level
- making regular capability reviews a requirement for APS agencies
- clarifying the power of the APS Commissioner to investigate alleged Code of Conduct breaches by an Agency Head or a former Agency Head
- requiring agencies to publish APS Employee Census results, and action plans to respond to the results
- undertaking at least one long-term insights briefing each year.
In March 2025, the Australian Public Service Commission published a report on the outcomes and emerging impacts from the first 2 years of APS Reform. Emerging impacts across the 4 reform pillars include:
- increasing action on integrity issues and strong commitment to stewardship by APS employees
- improving public-facing service delivery design and experiences
- growing efforts to ensure the APS reflects the community it serves and is a great place to work
- ensuring greater investment in APS in-house capability to meet Australia’s current and future needs.
APS Reform is an Australian Government initiative, launched in October 2022. It is supporting 59 initiatives, of which 29 require action from all APS agencies to drive system-wide change.
See also in this report
APS workplaces – Decision making at the lowest appropriate level
APS workplaces – Collaboration Circle
Integrity and conduct in the APS – Supporting an APS integrity culture
Capability and leadership in the APS – Capability Reviews
Capability and leadership in the APS – Australian public services – trust and satisfaction
Capability and leadership in the APS – Partnerships and engagements
Find out more
Australian Government (2025) Outcomes and emerging impacts from the first 2 years of the APS Reform Agenda, APS Reform website, accessed 3 September 2025.