APS Reform is underway, and some exciting changes are here that will help build a stronger APS that:
- embodies integrity in everything it does
- puts people and business at the centre of policy and services
- is a model employer, and
- has the capability to do its job well.
Changes are proposed to the Public Service Act 1999 (the Act) that will help the APS better serve the Government, the Parliament, and the Australian community into the future.
One of the proposed changes is to add stewardship to the APS Values and include this in the Act.
The keyword is stewardship. But what exactly is it?
Stewardship can mean different things to different people. In the public service, for example it could be about:
- building a service that looks ahead to the future
- working together in partnership
- being committed to the public interest
- safeguarding our collective knowledge and experience through periods of change.
More than 11,000 individuals and organisations – including those of you in the APS – had their say as part of the Independent Review of the APS in 2019, including on stewardship and the APS Values.
A lot has happened since then. As Glyn Davis AC, Secretary of PM&C has said “each challenge teaches us something new about stewardship in action.”
We want to make sure that public servants and the community have a say in defining what a new value of stewardship means today.
Throughout April, an open consultation was held asking for your help in defining stewardship. More than 1,500 people and organisations provided feedback.
Thank you for having your say on what stewardship means to you. The APS Reform Office will use your responses to develop a proposed definition for a new APS Value of Stewardship report back with what we have heard.
Subject to the passage of legislation, the new value and definition of stewardship will be shared widely across the Public Service soon, enshrined in the APS Values and changed in the Act.