The mission of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) is to improve the lives of all Australians.
The prelude to 2020-21 in Australia saw drought, floods and intense bushfires in multiple states followed by the national health, economic and social impacts of the global Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The health crisis is far from over and the economic and fiscal impacts arising from these events, in particular the global pandemic are the largest in several generations going back to the Great Depression.
PM&C’s primary task in 2020-21 will be to support the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to protect the health of Australians, rebuild jobs and the economy, support Australian families, businesses and regions through this challenging time, and protect Australians and Australia’s national interest in a complex domestic and global environment. We will also need to be ready to respond to other critical issues.
A new responsibility from early 2020 is to support the Prime Minister as the chair of the National Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders. This new leader-led arrangement to Commonwealth-State relations has already seen a more dynamic and purpose-driven approach. The Australian Government and each jurisdiction have committed through National Cabinet to protecting the health of Australians and to a national agenda for creating jobs and growing incomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a deterioration in Australia’s strategic environment. Our region has become the centre of intensifying geostrategic competition, eroding confidence in the rules-based order, which has underpinned global work and investment that has benefitted Australia. Increasing foreign interference and coercion challenge our traditional approaches to security. In this environment, PM&C will continue to support the Prime Minister in growing and diversifying our international partnerships, while also working with relevant portfolios to adapt and strengthen our approach to national security.
The Australian Public Service (APS) has responded to the COVID-19 crisis with remarkable capability, flexibility and energy.
As head of the APS, I will continue to focus on uniting the public service to operate as an APS-enterprise which can work together to prioritise policy design and service delivery, solve problems, share data, and mobilise people to deliver vital services for Australians. We have shown the APS can achieve this at the same time as working in new, COVID-safe ways. Our response has already delivered on many of the aspirations of the Government’s December 2019 public service reform agenda, Delivering for Australians. The APS Commissioner Peter Woolcott AO, the Secretaries Board and I have never been more proud of the public service we lead, and of the sense of duty and purpose that public servants have shown.
The APS will remain vital to managing the ongoing crisis, supporting Australia’s recovery and delivering other Government priorities.
The Secretaries Board I chair has agreed to deliver a series of immediate, practical reforms to support the APS’s capacity to meet the needs posed by our new operating environment. We will drive an APS-enterprise wide approach to digital investment and capability development and continue to support our workforce to build critical leadership and other in-demand capabilities. APS leaders will work to ensure the public service is able to deliver the Government’s priorities.
The Secretaries Board and I, supported by the Chief Operating Officers Committee, will continue to drive practical reform actions that directly support the APS in responding to the crisis and supporting Australia’s recovery, while building long-term APS capability. The immediate COVID-19 crisis has driven the APS to be our best and we are determined to retain and build on this platform.
This Corporate Plan, for the period 2020-24, sets out how PM&C intends to deliver on our responsibilities at a critical point in our national history. The operating environment this year is vastly different, more demanding and more challenging than that of recent years. Both this Department and the APS more broadly will continue to adapt and respond to the needs of Government at a time when our contribution is more critical than ever before.