BIGGEST SHAKE-UP TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN DECADES

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison has unveiled an ambitious plan to make the Commonwealth public service more customer focused and better equipped to meet the challenge of digital disruption.
 
Delivering on an election promise to shake-up the Canberra bureaucracy, the Prime Minister has created four mega ministries and taken the axe to a number of long-serving mandarins.
 
The bold blueprint is the most significant reform of the public service in decades and signals the Morrison Government’s determination to cut-through perceived bureaucratic inertia to deliver better services to the public.
 

Advent of the Mega Agencies

Under the change, the number of Commonwealth departments will be reduced from 18 down to 14, incorporating four mega agencies:

• Education, Skills and Employment;
• Agriculture, Water and the Environment;
• Industry, Science, Energy and Resources;
• Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

Portfolios within each mega agency will maintain their current Minister, with the PM emphasising today’s changes would not precipitate a ministerial reshuffle…for now.

Leadership change at the top of the bureaucracy
 

Several long-standing and respected Canberra mandarins – including Mike Mrdak, Heather Smith and Daryl Quinlivan – have lost their jobs in the shake-up.
Coming back into the bureaucracy following six years at professional services firm EY is former secretary Andrew Metcalfe, who has been handed perhaps the most challenging job, as Secretary of the new Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

The Prime Minister has also promoted former Labor adviser David Fredericks as Secretary of the new “super” Industry agency, as he attempts to fend off accusations of seeking to purge Labor-aligned bureaucrats.
 

What next…

Addressing reporters at Parliament House, the PM said the slimmed-down bureaucracy “will allow us to bust bureaucratic congestion, improve decision-making and ultimately deliver better services for the Australian people”.

The new secretaries will not take up their roles until February, allowing them time to contemplate the mammoth task ahead: breaking down bureaucratic silos, navigating entrenched cultures, and integrating previously separate IT and other operating systems.

As to how these client-focused, mega agencies will operate, look no further than the NSW Government’s ‘service delivery’ model as a template for lean and efficient customer service expectations. 

Or, as the Prime Minister explains it, “I want a public service that’s very much focussed on implementation”.