Functions
Section 64 of the Public Service Act 1999 establishes the Secretaries Board. Its functions are:
- to take responsibility for the stewardship of the APS and for developing and implementing strategies to improve the APS
- to identify strategic priorities for the APS and consider issues that affect the APS
- to set an annual work program
- to direct subcommittees to develop strategies to address APS-wide issues and make recommendations to the Secretaries Board
- to draw together advice from senior leaders in government, business and the community
- to work collaboratively and model leadership behaviours.
Members of the Secretaries Board keep their autonomy and statutory responsibilities as the heads of their respective departments.
Membership
The Secretaries Board is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Its membership comprises:
- the secretaries of all Australian Government departments
- the Secretary for Public Sector Reform
- the Australian Public Service Commissioner (as Deputy Chair).
The CEO of the National Indigenous Australians Agency is co-opted to board meetings to report on First Nations reforms and any related agenda items.
Meetings
The Secretaries Board meets monthly, usually on the first Wednesday.
The board is committed to an agenda that devotes sufficient time for strategic, forward-looking discussions on significant public policy or administration matters, while balancing the need to discuss regular reports relating to matters of shared interest.
Communiques
The Secretaries Board is committed to modelling transparency with regard to communicating its priorities and decisions.
Communiques were established from the October 2022 meeting.
2024
- 13 November 2024 meeting communique
- 9 October 2024 meeting communique
- 11 September 2024 meeting communique
- 14 August 2024 meeting communique
- 10 July 2024 meeting communique
- 12 June 2024 meeting communique
- 7 May 2024 meeting communique
- 10 April 2024 meeting communique
- 14 March 2024 meeting communique
- 7 February 2024 meeting communique
2023
- 6 December 2023 meeting communique
- 13 November 2023 meeting communique
- 11 October 2023 meeting communique
- 13 September 2023 meeting communique
- 16 August 2023 meeting communique
- 11 July 2023 meeting communique
- 14 June 2023 meeting communique
- 10 May 2023 meeting communique
- 12 April 2023 meeting communique
- 8 March 2023 meeting communique
- 8 February 2023 meeting communique
2022
Terms of reference
The Secretaries Board Terms of Reference were updated and officially endorsed at the 14 August 2024 meeting.