‘I remember when I was a public servant’ the older moustachioed man said to me.

I met him at a public service conference in Canberra, about 20 years ago, shortly after my first role in the Australian Public Service (APS). He was very well dressed, a smart suit, vest, tie, and more importantly, he held himself with dignity. There was a sense of self-assurance and hopefulness in his presence, if not tinged with a bit of world-weariness.

He had joined the public service as a young man, I later found out, and served for over 30 years. He had since retired, and was there, either out of interest, or in an advisory capacity (I don’t remember exactly).

I was only just entering the APS, and excited by my new role working in the APS Values and Code of Conduct space. I was bright eyed and passionate about the Good the APS could do. While I worked investigating breaches of the code, I also worked to promote the APS Values.

Having just come from the not-for-profit sector (at Outward Bound Australia), I was already immersed in the power and good that those who are passionate about values based leadership could do. I knew the positive impact that this had for the employees, as well as those they served.

‘planning and exploring across my life has been achieved best, in the kitchen…’
2005 at Outward Bound Australia

I wanted to take my past experience in developing servant leadership and facilitating collaboration for even those in conflict, and apply this to help the APS. I wanted to see if the same human principles could apply in creating an innovative, engaging, and insightful approach to how the Public Service could connect with values, and more importantly, use these to make the world a better place.

If anyone was ready to hear this the message I was about to receive, it was me.

The older man looked at me, smiling, his eyes paused as he looked at my name badge, emblazoned with the Australian Crest.

I remember him looking directly at me. Eyes connecting with mine, and then they somehow they seemed to focus behind me, as he appeared to revisit a memory in his mind.

It was only a second, but I remember his eyes as they refocused on me. He looked at me as though he was trying to push an idea into my heart… As though there was a sense of urgency in his expression.

‘We said, you defend the crest! You… are a…. a Public Servant!’. The man was ‘on fire’ with a belief in something that was far larger than he was. He believed that public servants were noble stewards to an institution that serves consecutive governments, and through this, the people of Australia.

Having worked across the Australian Public Service (APS), I’ve long been a passionate fan of what the APS, and other Public and Civil Services across the world do for the world. The Public Service is an area, that for me, always represented a means to help influence for good at the societal level.

Learning Public Sector craft, as well as the philosophies that drove an effective public service, and the micro-skills that are required to leverage positive change within the public service, is something that I’ve invested a lot of research and energy in. Because it matters. Deeply.

Commonwealth Public Service Regulations
Awards under the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1911
Insightful Path Library

Public Servants have the ability to influence the prosperity of the nation, through how we consistently work in the difficult, chaotic, and challenging spaces. Public Servants work in policy, regulation, administration, program delivery, and many, many other fields of work. They administer billions of dollars of tax payer monies a year, for services and programs that help people across the nation, and the world.

The the APS is a huge bureaucracy, and contains the cultural attributes of big bureaucracies, however, it is founded on Values that were painstakingly decided upon. These values were determined as guiding principles, like the Hippocratic oath (the oath of ethics that ancient physicians were required to swear by), that, if followed, would enable the APS to continue to serve the best interests of Australia.

Hippocratic Oath
Papyrus
originating in Egypt

The values are so important, that every Senior Executive Service officer, in the Australian Public Service is legislated to:

Like so many elements of life, if one is to actively promote and demonstrate by personal example a philosophic principle, a value of importance, they have to know these values deeply. They have to spend time in understanding what the value means, not just the legislated definition, but also how they can breathe life into that value, and make it relevant to their leadership.

The APS, like any large hierarchical organisation, has structures and systems and rules and policies in place in order to help it achieve its intended purpose. The APS’s purpose is a noble one. The APS holds the ‘corporate knowledge’ around each policy, regulatory, program space in order to help advise the government that the people elect in an apolitical way. The APS, when it is working well is:

apolitical and provides the Government with advice that is frank, honest, timely and based on the best available evidence.
professional, objective, innovative and efficient, and works collaboratively to achieve best results for the Australian community and the Government;
open and accountable to the Australian community under the law and within the framework of Ministerial responsbility;
respects all people, including their rights and their heritage;
demonstrates leadership, is trustworthy and acts with integrity in all that it does.

These behaviours are the ones that breathe life into the APS Values, and can be found in the legislation (Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions).

And there are so many of those who deeply care about ensuring the APS can continue its long history of trusted service. In fact, in 2019 the International Civil Service Effectiveness Index compared public sectors from across the globe against various areas of public / civil service work such as: Regulation, procurement, policy making, openness, integrity, inclusiveness, HR management, fiscal and financial management, digital services, crisis and risk management, capabilities, and tax administration.

Australia ranked 5th, behind Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada, and Finland (1st-4th place winners).

And this matters. We have a good public service, and how our public service actually serves, matters. The APS is a steward for the critical understanding, built up ever since it was first founded in 1901, which then consisted of only 6 departments and a little over 11k public servants Australia wide.

It has since grown to 170,332 employees (2023 census), and 105 various agencies and entities. In order to maintain the trusted place the APS has as a trusted steward of the insights of governing, administrating, and regulating our nation, it is, and must be held to high standards of ethical behaviour.

I recently read the APS Integrity Taskforce’s 2023 action plan for the APS. In it, the taskforce examined the APS’s culture, systems and areas of accountability. It identified that the leadership of the APS has a unique role in being the ‘cultural architect’ of integrity in the APS. Any good architect should know that ‘form follows function’ and if we are to have leadership who has, as key component of their role, the need to demonstrate ‘by personal example.. the APS Values’, then we should design the training that SES receive to incorporate how to apply the APS Values effectively. We should support them in their ability to respond to challenges.

Luckily, there are some great resources out there for APS leaders, (and leaders from anywhere) to build their abilities to connect with values and collaborate effectively. And within these resources, there are many skills and micro-skills that can be taught, and practiced to contribute to a leaders’s ability to create cultures of integrity and be stewards of the Good that their institutions provide.

If you are a leader, please take the time to read the APS Integrity Taskforce’s recommendations (Highlights listed on page 6 of Action Plan - link here).

The recommendations are well researched and linked to helping the APS overcome current issues in our culture. And as I read them, I agreed with every one of them.

If you want to create a culture within your work area that values integrity, ask yourself, ‘are there things that I can do that will further align with the recommendations?’.

If you want insights and wisdom for how to build workshops that will help you to create a culture of integrity, please reach out! What you do now to help your work culture will help them to face future challenges!

Stewardship: louder than words…

Men’s Health Week 2024

CONNECTING with your earnest, authentic, and unashamed SELF