The Australian Public Service: new agendas and reform

Abstract

A change of federal government can be expected to produce new directions for the Australian Public Service (APS), and this is more likely after lengthy periods of opposition provide the incubation for new policy and the impetus for initiating change. The 1972, 1983, 1996 and 2007 turnovers stand out as significant turning points for the APS. 1 Kevin Rudd's first term was notable for the change of focus expected of a new government, and the distancing and differentiating of public governance and administration from that of the Howard government (cf. Halligan 2008a). But the aspirations were much higher-to anticipate the long-term challenges and to shape the future (Stuart 2010:2)-which sharply distinguished it from the Howard government. Three factors were significant. First, the government came to office with a governance reform agenda that encompassed aspects of the Public Service. Second, there was momentum for change coming out of the Prime Minister's drive for performance and strategic focus across a wide range of policy issues. Third, there was the unleashing of a formal reform process and the resulting 'blueprint' that were associated with the head of the Public Service, Terry Moran. This chapter first considers the advent of a new government and the contribution that it initially sought to make to machinery and principles of governance, and then examines the launching of a major reform process that produced the blueprint for reform (AGRAGA 2010). Judgments about how this ambitious agenda were worked through in practice can only be provisional, and for this exceptional term indicate the need to differentiate evaluation at the level of ideas and initiatives from those of implementation and practice. The working assumption was that Rudd was guaranteed more than one term and that implementation would continue across several terms. As well there 1 For details, see earlier volumes in this series (Appendix 1.1).