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Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

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<strong>Good</strong> <strong>Practices</strong> <strong>and</strong> InnovATIONS <strong>in</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Governance</strong><br />

Asia <strong>and</strong> the Pacific<br />

Australia<br />

2007 Category 1 W<strong>in</strong>ner<br />

State of the Service Report<br />

Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service Commission, Australia<br />

Description<br />

Enhanc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Public</strong> Service performance <strong>and</strong> accountability through the State of the<br />

Service Report.<br />

Summary<br />

The State of the Service Report is an annual report on the state of the Australian<br />

<strong>Public</strong> Service prepared by the Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service Commissioner <strong>and</strong> presented<br />

to the Prime M<strong>in</strong>ister for tabl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Parliament. It provides the Australian<br />

<strong>Public</strong> Service Commission as well as the government <strong>and</strong> the parliament with an<br />

effective picture of how the commission is perform<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a devolved environment. It<br />

helps to identify its strengths, its key challenges <strong>and</strong> areas <strong>in</strong> need of further improvement,<br />

to ensure that it delivers effective outcomes for the Australian Government <strong>and</strong><br />

the community <strong>in</strong> the future.<br />

The Problem<br />

In order to improve the efficiency <strong>and</strong> effectiveness of civil service at the local level,<br />

the Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service Commission <strong>and</strong> other government bodies needed to<br />

have comprehensive <strong>in</strong>formation about the performance of local agencies.<br />

The Solution<br />

The Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service (APS) Commission has been required to present an annual<br />

State of the Service Report to the Parliament s<strong>in</strong>ce 1998. The Report, which provides<br />

a picture of the performance <strong>and</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> trends <strong>in</strong> the Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service,<br />

was a new concept designed as an important part of the accountability framework under<br />

the more devolved arrangements <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong>itially by Regulations <strong>and</strong> then by<br />

Section 44 of the <strong>Public</strong> Service Act 1999. This Act established that the <strong>Public</strong> Service<br />

Commissioner must provide a report each year to the M<strong>in</strong>ister for presentation to the<br />

Parliament, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a report on the state of the Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service dur<strong>in</strong>g that<br />

year. The State of the Service Report draws on a range of <strong>in</strong>formation sources <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />

a survey sent to all Australian <strong>Public</strong> Service agencies employ<strong>in</strong>g 20 or more staff under<br />

the <strong>Public</strong> Service Act <strong>and</strong> the results of the APS employee survey.<br />

The 2005-2006 Report <strong>in</strong>cludes a Statistical snapshot of the Australian <strong>Public</strong><br />

Service, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g its size, number of full-time <strong>and</strong> part-time employees, mobil-<br />

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