Dear Colleagues
When Australians think of good government, a whole range of different associations come to mind. Some think first about policy, and how good government means making progress on complex national issues. Many see good government through the issue of integrity, and the appropriate and ethical use of public money.
But I suspect most Australians consider good government through the lens of their own, everyday interactions. It could be a recent experience applying for a passport, or the phone call they made to organise their Child Care Subsidy or Parenting Payment. It could be the message in their MyGov inbox about an upcoming tax return, or the in-person support at an NDIS office. These kinds of engagements happen millions of times every day. Services Australia alone has more than 450 million customer interactions per year.
I take heart from the excellent work being done every day in our public service, and I thank you for your continuing professionalism.
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the Services Australia Operations Centre and Woden Service Centre in Canberra. The Centre is an impressive operation supporting a huge number of dedicated staff across Australia. I was moved by the work underway to help customers access services online - making it easier for people and reducing pressure on in-person and phone services.
The vision at Services Australia is to 'make government services simple so people can get on with their lives' and it was encouraging to see this in action.
More than a quarter of the APS is made up of service delivery roles, and the call or contact centre role remains the most common type of work in the APS. Thousands of our colleagues right across the service commit themselves every day to providing quality advice and services, and implementing with care the decisions of those elected by the Australian people. If this is you, I want to take this opportunity say thanks – this is public service personified.
I look forward to continuing to work with you and your agencies to put people and business at the centre of policy and services, so we can continue to embody 'good government' in every sense.
Thank you
Professor Glyn Davis AC
Secretary
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet