Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

We welcome the interim findings of the independent review of the Australian Public Service conducted by David Thodey and the review panel.

Australia already has a world class public service, but there is always room for further improvement. 

This review will help us explore opportunities to further improve the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of our public service by embracing technological innovation to better respond to increasing community expectations.

The Australian Public Service must continually look for new and better ways of working. We need to make sure that public sector productivity can be sustained and improved in a world that continues to evolve around us.

The interim findings in the report focus on ways to further strengthen our public service.

Some of the recommendations are consistent with reforms which are currently underway, including greater investment in shared services, use of data analytics to support policy development and collaboration between departmental Secretaries as professional leaders of the service.

There will be the opportunity for Parliamentary scrutiny and input to ensure any further public sector reforms have the broadest possible support.

We encourage further feedback on the interim findings. It is important that the final outcomes of the review meet the needs of all Australians.