In 2020, we emerged from bushfires and floods to face a global pandemic. In a year dominated by COVID-19, every team within PM&C worked to support the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in serving, protecting and rebuilding the nation.
Our task for 2021–22 is to renew our commitment to improving the lives of all Australians. Last year, our focus was on keeping Australians safe and our economy strong. As we begin to transition from response to recovery, consolidation and growth, we will once again work together to get things done and deliver tangible outcomes.
In that setting, our six departmental purposes remain the same:
- Growing our economy and creating jobs.
- Vibrant and resilient regions.
- Strengthening families and communities.
- Advancing Australia’s international interests and enhancing national security.
- Governing well.
- Preparing to respond to future critical issues.
Our strategic environment is rapidly changing, creating opportunities for collaboration but also presenting more risks to our security and sovereignty than we have witnessed for many decades. At PM&C, we will consult across government to identify risks, develop coherent plans to support our national interests and grasp opportunities to keep our country peaceful and prosperous.
We are witnessing a shifting global response to the challenge of climate change and the opportunities presented by a global transition to a lower emissions future. PM&C, through the Office of the Climate Coordinator (OCC), will support integrated policy-making to assist Australia’s transition to a lower emissions future and strong advocacy for Australia’s climate change agenda.
Changes to the ministry in late 2020 introduced two additional ministers to our portfolio. The newly created roles of Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy to oversee the portfolio’s responsibility to further the digital economy and society by 2030 and Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. The additional roles allow for a refined focus on critical areas of government policy. Digital technology’s key role in Australia’s economic future, anticipation of increased mental health impacts as a legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a need to reform the national mental health system underpin these new priority areas.
In early 2021 further changes to the ministry added to our portfolio the newly created role of the Assistant Minister to the Minister for Women. To accelerate and coordinate efforts to deliver for women in Australia, the Prime Minister also announced the new Cabinet Taskforce on Women’s Safety and Economic Security, which is supported by the Department.
PM&C’s support to Cabinet, as the focal point of government decision-making, is critical to delivering for all Australians. We provide administrative support for informed, efficient meetings and handle the briefing for the Prime Minister as Chair of Cabinet and its committees. The Department also supports the Prime Minister in his role as Chair of the National Cabinet, working together with state and territory leaders to manage Australia’s COVID-19 response and deliver solutions for protecting the health of Australians and rebuilding the economy.
In delivering on our mission and the strategic priorities set out in this plan, the way we work is just as important as what we do. This year we have reviewed and reinvigorated the PM&C Craft. Originally released in 2012, it is our primary values and behaviours document outlining PM&C’s unique role in the Australian Public Service (APS), and the attributes and commitment required of a PM&C Officer. The PM&C Craft 2021 restates our commitment to operating with the highest levels of integrity, judgement, adaptability and responsiveness in collaboration with the APS, Government and the Australian community.
We will continue to work with the Secretaries Board on our mission to strengthen and reform the APS to work as one enterprise, across traditional boundaries, taking an outcomes-based approach to delivering for Australians. As head of the APS, it is my goal to emphasise One APS and for the Secretaries Board to focus at the enterprise level, supported by the Chief Operating Officers Committee, to implement coordinated, service-wide changes. PM&C’s support for the Cabinet’s Policy Implementation Committee which focuses on the delivery of Government priorities will further inform this process.
The demanding operating context of last year will continue into 2021–22. We have made agility a key feature of the way we work. Citizen-centric policy-making has a heightened significance and a new reality. As we get things done in the year ahead, the lessons we have learnt over the past 12 months will inform and shape our skilled and focused delivery to the Government and for all Australians.
I am pleased to present the 2021–22 PM&C Corporate Plan, which covers the 2021–25 period, as required under section 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.