Towards the end of 2022, the Prime Minister thanked staff from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) for their service, saying, ‘This takes a lot of effort … But it matters for Australia.’
In substance, the Prime Minister’s words express the meaning of the vital work we do as public servants, delivering for Australians and Australia. The words give purpose, also, to the priorities we set as PM&C.
PM&C sits at the heart of policy and planning. On social policy and the economy, and in the international and defence spheres, PM&C works hard to anticipate, respond to, and implement the Australian Government’s complex agenda.
The budget initiatives in which PM&C plays a key role will continue to be implemented in the years ahead. Delivering and supporting those initiatives determines our next phase of work.
PM&C has an excellent vantage point. The range of programs this department leads, coordinates or contributes to gives us access to perspectives from regional communities, state and territory governments, industry, unions, and the international stage. This overview of the nation is critical to our support to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to improve the lives of all Australians.
From mid-2023, achieving this goal includes establishing the Net Zero Authority, maintaining the NDIS Review Taskforce and the Care and Support Economy Taskforce, continuing to support implementation of the Jenkins Report on Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces, rolling out gender responsive budgeting across the budget and delivering the ASEAN–Australia Special Summit 2024. Further, PM&C is establishing an in-house consulting function – which aims to reduce reliance on external consultants and enable the department to work in partnership with portfolios to deliver Government priorities.
Alongside and integral to this is the department’s participation in the work of Australian Public Service (APS) reform to prioritise integrity, people and capability within the public service. We are home to the APS Integrity Taskforce, and in due course will support the transition of the APS Reform Office over to the Australian Public Service Commission. Ultimately, the Government’s APS Reform agenda is the practical expression of our collective resolve to make sure the APS is a respected, trusted and purposeful institution.
The first legislative change in support of these priorities is to enshrine ‘stewardship’ as an APS Value. In the public sector, stewardship is the ability to anticipate and plan ahead, and to record outcomes and learn from the past. I regard the inclusion of stewardship as an opportunity to manage our collective memory and to build our capacity to act now, and well into the future.
Pre-eminent among the lessons of my first year as Secretary of PM&C is that the learning never stops. I’m impressed by the commitment of my colleagues across the department to learning and doing better all the time, and to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace, where we welcome multiple perspectives and incorporate them into our work.
I look forward to seeing all of this vital work progress across the year ahead, and to seeing PM&C continue to learn, grow, build capacity, and make a difference to Australia and its people.
Statement of preparation
I, as the accountable authority of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, present the 2023–24 Corporate Plan, which covers the 4-year period from 2023–24 to 2026–27, as required under section 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
Professor Glyn Davis AC
Secretary
August 2023