Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2007 Category 1: Australia
ity, age profile, diversity trends, etc. It also provides information about job satisfaction,
communication and productivity in the public service, integrity and fairness,
equity and diversity, learning and development, leadership and management,
organisational capability, agency governance, whole government, etc. The 2005-
2006 State of the Service Report shows that, overall, the APS is a healthy institution,
with high levels of employee engagement, organisational effectiveness and
service delivery capability. Associated with the State of the Service Report 2005-
2006 are two other publications – the Australian Public Service Statistical Bulletin
2005-2006 and the State of the Service Employee Survey Results 2005-
2006. A summary pamphlet, State of the Service 2005-2006 At a Glance, has also
been prepared. These publications are available on the Commission’s website at:
www.apsc.govt.au
The State of the Service Report is an important mechanism in increasing the public’s
ability to observe, monitor and analyze government decision-making and processes
in relation to the Australian Public Service. It provides a wealth of information about
the impact and effectiveness of management processes and decision-making relating
to the APS across a range of areas including decisions affecting organisational capability,
employee satisfaction and the effectiveness of the APS in working with the
community. The State of the Service report is also an important part of the accountability
framework for the APS. It provides an effective mechanism for monitoring
APS agencies compliance with key aspects of the Public Service Act 1999 and for
assessment of the performance of the APS across the bord.
The Report’s findings have led to action to improve APS performance in a number of
areas including in relation to the ageing of the APS workforce, the need to manage
and sustain the workforce in an environment, which requires more highly-skilled
staff, the employment of Indigenous Australians and people with disability, and in
relation to interactions with Ministers and Ministers’ offices.
The Public Service Act does not limit what the Public Service Commissioner can include
in the State of the Service Report. The Explanatory Memorandum for the Public
Service Bill envisaged that the report would have both factual and evaluative elements.
In practice, the State of the Service Report has tended to include both conformance and
performance dimensions. For example, a key theme of all reports has been how effectively
APS agencies are conforming with aspects of the Public Service Act 1999, most
notably the APS Values set out in section 10. Reports have also made assessments
about the performance of the APS in a number of areas for example in terms of its organisational
capability and the effectiveness of agencies’ workforce planning.
The State of the Service Report also helps nurture the culture of performance and
continuous improvement within APS agencies. From its inception it was envisaged
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