Chance for a fresh start in patching up the Commonwealth Public Service |
The appointment of a new Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner highlights deeper structural problems inside the Public Service Commission, from flawed remuneration policies to weak accountability and confused reform priorities.
On 14 May the Prime Minister announced that Jacqui Curtis, the Chief Operating Officer in the Taxation Office, is to be the new Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner.
The position had been substantively vacant since February after the resignation of Gordon de Brouwer. The time taken to fill the position could be a sign of due diligence in finding his replacement or it could be down to the lethargy that so often retards appointments. What processes brought Curtis to the fore are unclear. The Prime Minister didn’t say if the position was advertised – it should have been.
Yet congratulations to Ms Curtis and good luck too – she’ll need it.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is a small agency whose influence depends largely on the weak reeds of exhortation and ministerial backing. It lives in the cramping shadow of a Secretaries Board specialising in the lowest common denominator.
As the Commission has allowed self-congratulation to outpace achievement, its recent record has not been awesome.
Its discussion papers on public service “reform” have run to a few pages containing little justification for their largely trivial proposals. One of the papers has disappeared into the bureaucratic mists. Thus, some of the amendments to the Public Service Act have been inconsequential and others, like making all public servants subject to discipline if they don’t take into account the long term........