Print this pageSecretary Peter Shergold reports
In my last report I commented how it is rarely obvious that an annual report is, at its heart, about people.
This year I am delighted to present a rather different style of annual report—one that includes more pictures of our staff at work to put a more human face on PM&C's achievements and activities.
I would also like to thank the many people who contributed to this report, and in particular all those individuals and teams who worked so hard during the year to achieve what we are reporting here.
It has been a year of big policy issues and complex logistics, of developing long-term strategy and addressing immediate crises. We can be—and are—proud of our contribution to government in Australia.
We have served the Prime Minister with energy, commitment and dedication. To this end we have monitored, coordinated, always advised on and sometimes led responses to the manifold issues that confront government in the course of a year.
Let me elaborate on some of this activity.
A year of big policy issues...
PM&C is a unique organisation. Our mission is to ensure that the Prime Minister receives the best possible advice on any matter that requires his attention as Australia's head of government, as Chairman of Cabinet or as Chairman of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
This can involve PM&C brokering agreement between other agencies and jurisdictions. Often it requires us to identify points of difference, and suggest ways in which they might be resolved. There are few simple solutions in public policy.
2005–06 was a year of big policy issues, even by PM&C standards. We undertook a substantial volume of work in response to requests by both the Australian Government and COAG.
Indeed, 2005–06 saw a much larger agenda of work flowing from COAG—see Secretary's snapshot 1 (page 16)—and our COAG coordination team (see photo below) was one of several to be recognised with a 2006 Australia Day Achievement Award.
We demonstrated leadership at times of crisis. We made a major contribution to the Australian Government response to tropical cyclones Larry and Monica. PM&C also made a contribution to planning for the possibility of an avian influenza pandemic (see Secretary's snapshot 2, page 17), and in relation to counter-terrorism.
We also contributed to many key policy issues over 2005–06. We led up to 40 interdepartmental committees and working groups at a time, and participated in another 125. We set up a number of taskforces in PM&C to bring together expertise from across the public service on issues such as health reforms, biofuels, skills and nuclear energy.
We also supported the Australian Government in putting together its 2006–07 Budget, working closely with the Treasury and the Department of Finance and Administration.
In short, we are involved in a huge range of public policy that affects the lives of all Australians.
Is it any wonder that the vast majority of PM&C staff describe their jobs as meaningful, interesting and satisfying? This was one of the main findings of our 2005 staff survey—see Secretary's snapshot 3 (page 18).
As the demands on PM&C continued to increase, so did our resources. We received additional funding of $5.6 million in 2005–06. The funding was used to increase core staffing levels in the department, ensure we had the resources to carry our COAG workload and to fund the overhead costs of hosting current and future taskforces.
Complex logistics...
PM&C's other key role—facilitating the conduct of government business—may sound easy but requires painstaking attention to detail.
Our reputation for professionalism and excellence in this role has been hard won, and I am pleased to report a number of achievements in 2005–06.
As government has focused increasingly on the successful delivery of policy, so our cabinet implementation workload has grown. The average number of policy initiatives that we monitored on behalf of Cabinet rose to 63, comprising 196 measures. We have also engaged other agencies in discussing good practice in managing major public projects.
We launched a new website to promote Australia's honours system. It has been a big hit with members of the public. The lessons learnt are being put to good use on other PM&C websites.
We also took responsibility for 48 official visits and events, including The Queen's visit to Australia to open the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in March 2006.
Our experience in organising things on a large scale will be put to good use in 2007, when Australia hosts the next round of talks sponsored by the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (APEC) organisation.
Preparations are well under way, but there is much still to be done.
The logistical challenges in arranging six high-level ministerial meetings around Australia—culminating in a meeting of world leaders in Sydney in September 2007—are daunting. How well we do it will influence the way Australia is perceived worldwide.
And other achievements
This year has been demanding. It has also been exhilarating. In an environment in which ideas are strongly contested, our advice has been persuasive on many occasions. It's been provided to the Prime Minister in over 6 100 briefs and regular oral presentations. We've also organised well over 170 Cabinet, Cabinet committee and other senior meetings. And we've handled almost 195 000 letters to the Prime Minister.
This has been a good year for the human side of PM&C too. We have shaved heads, run cake stalls, rattled collecting boxes and walked, cycled and swum for various good causes. We've enjoyed Christmas parties and trivia nights and Happy Hours. We've become partners and parents and grandparents. We have worked well together within PM&C, and this has been particularly important in times of pressure.
This camaraderie, and commitment to achievement, gives cause for optimism about our future performance. I am looking forward to another successful year and, in particular, to moving into our new building at One National Circuit in February 2007. While our current building has served us well, we have outgrown it and our new building has been designed to meet PM&C's needs as we move further into the 21st century.
Dr Peter Shergold
Secretary's snapshot 1: a larger COAG agenda
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) comprises the Prime Minister as chair, six Premiers, two Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association. In 2005–06, the work flowing from COAG has grown in PM&C.
COAG stands at the centre of Australian federalism. Its main role is to initiate, develop and monitor progress in implementing policy reforms that are of national significance and that require the involvement of more than one government. Success is dependent on cooperation.
COAG has met at least once a year since 2000. In 2005–06 COAG met twice: once on 27 September 2005, and again on 10 February 2006. PM&C played a major role in the smooth functioning of these meetings, which involve all First Ministers and their senior officials (see photo below).
In 2005–06 COAG engaged in and took decisions on a wide range of issues: counter-terrorism, pandemic influenza, workforce skills, indigenous affairs and climate change. COAG took a series of decisions on the health system and agreed to give priority to work on mental health and Australia's health workforce. COAG also committed to a new National Reform Agenda, comprising three streams of activity: competition policy, regulatory reform and human capital.
PM&C has been coordinating preparation of materials for COAG consideration on all of these issues. I chair the inter-jurisdictional Senior Officials' Meetings, which met nine times in 2005–06. Many other PM&C executives chair or participate in working groups with the states and territories.
At the same time, we coordinate the development of advice to the Prime Minister on how best to handle complex Commonwealth–State issues. This usually involves us working closely with the other agencies of the Australian Government.
The outcomes of each COAG meeting are documented in a communiqué released at the end of each meeting. Communiqués record the decisions which will need to be pursued in the months ahead, and are typically 10–20 pages long plus attachments. In 2005–06 we succeeded in posting both communiqués on the COAG website www.coag.gov.au within three hours of each meeting.
The increase in the COAG workload within PM&C has involved a significant increase in the time spent on COAG issues and the creation of taskforces to handle specific issues. The early evidence suggests that this greater effort has been reflected in positive outcomes. We have played our part in building a more cooperative federalism.
Secretary's snapshot 2: international & national leadership on pandemic influenza
Australia has contingency plans in place to deal with a range of disasters. They are reviewed regularly to reflect Australia's experience in dealing with actual events such as the Bali bombings in October 2002, the SARS crisis in 2003, the Indian Ocean tsunamis of 26 December 2004 and—this year—Cyclone Larry.
There are always new threats. At present, avian influenza (bird flu) rarely infects humans. However, it is in the same family of viruses as human flu and it could evolve into a form that is easily transmitted between people. It could become a pandemic, spreading worldwide and resulting in many deaths.
PM&C has contributed to Australia's international efforts to prevent a pandemic and slow the spread of avian influenza. With the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade leading, major areas of work in 2005–06 included:
- The International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. We participated actively with other Australian agencies in this US coordinated initiative.
- The first meeting of APEC senior pandemic coordinators. We helped stage and represent Australia at the meeting, held in Brisbane in October 2005.
- High level meetings where influenza has been discussed. We provided briefings, for example, for the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Korea in November 2005 and a ministerial meeting on influenza in Vietnam in May 2006.
- The APEC Response exercise and other regional assistance measures.
Lessons learnt from the APEC Response exercise in June 2006 are to be provided to APEC leaders in November 2006.
PM&C is also leading national efforts to ensure Australia is well-prepared for the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. It requires a whole-of-government approach. To this end PM&C chairs a COAG working group. We also lead a committee of more than 20 Australian Government agencies, reflecting the wide range of immediate issues which a pandemic would pose.
This whole of government work complements the work being undertaken by the Department of Health and Ageing on health aspects of a possible pandemic.
A major achievement in 2005–06 was the development of a new National Action Plan for Human Influenza Pandemic. endorsed by COAG in July 2006, this sets out how all levels of government will cooperate in the event of a pandemic. It is available at www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/pandemic.
Another achievement in 2005–06 was the new Commonwealth Government Action Plan for Influenza. endorsed by government in May 2006, the strategy will ensure the continuity of essential Australian Government services in the event of a pandemic.
Secretary's snapshot 3: staff survey results pleasing
Since 2001, we have conducted confidential staff surveys every two years. They give our staff an opportunity to say what they really think about working in PM&C.
The surveys allow us to monitor our ‘corporate health' and to run our department better. They drive continuous improvement. They tell us:
- where, and to what extent, we have improved over time
- where we need to do more work or rethink what we are doing, and
- how we compare with, and what we can learn from, a range of similar organisations.
Our previous staff survey in 2003 resulted in a number of positive changes. Among other things, we:
- created a more comprehensive orientation programme for new starters
- set up a career advisory panel for all staff, and
- improved our IT and information services.
Our latest survey, which was conducted in September 2005, has provided more food for thought.
Participation rates were excellent—more than 83 per cent of all staff completed the survey, with half doing so within 48 hours of the survey release.
Preliminary results were discussed at an SES forum in November 2005 and an action plan was developed to address issues of concern. People need to be assured that their views are not only being heard but are being acted upon.
So what did our staff have to say? On a very positive note, the overwhelming majority of staff told us that they are:
- proud to work in PM&C and find their work meaningful
- more satisfied with their jobs and with us as an employer than in 2003
- satisfied that we provide a safe and healthy workplace, and
- committed to team work.
Staff also told us that they wanted us to do more. They wanted greater access to professional development and career opportunities, and more attention devoted to providing work–life balance.
I presented the complete results and action plan to staff at an all-staff meeting in February 2006. Since then, regular updates have kept people informed about progress against the plan.
By 30 June 2006, we had fully implemented our action plan. We have already received a positive response to the actions taken:
- external speaker presentations have been well attended (see page 84)
- our new Professional Development Opportunity Fund was fully subscribed (page 84)
- our new bulk recruitment process has enabled us to fill vacancies quickly (page 83), ensuring we use the resources we have to the full, and
- a network of workplace harassment contact officers has been established (page 89).
The signs look good. Staff turnover is declining (see page 85) and there has been a lot of interest in people wanting to join PM&C (page 83). Increasingly, when people leave us, it is because they have been promoted (page 85).
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