Defence

Wordsmith

Living by the values

Ric Smith

 

In my role as Secretary of the Department of Defence, and as a career public servant, I seek always to uphold and promote the values of the Australian Public Service (APS). I want to focus on these values in this month's Wordsmith, in order to reinforce their importance for our over 19,000 public service staff. I am increasingly concerned that many staff do not understand their relationship to these values. While APS Values, and their related Code of Conduct, are not a set of rules and processes, they are also not simply statements of intent. As members of the APS, we are required by law to uphold the Public Service's values and abide by its code. For civilians in Defence, APS Values not only help shape an ethical and productive workplace culture - they also define our legal commitment to both government and the public we serve.

The Defence Organisation is often seen as a complex mosaic of distinct cultures and traditions. Specific Defence Values have been established to provide a common, and unifying, thread. These values are referred to as PLICIT - Professionalism, Loyalty, Integrity, Courage, Innovation, and Teamwork, all of which should be inherent in our Organisation. Yet each of our major arms (Navy, Army, Air Force, and civilian) also retains its own recognised values to which their members aspire. This is not surprising given our different service traditions, and should not be a cause for concern. Our differing values provide the frameworks needed for the diverse and unique responsibilities of Defence. The strong values held by our Armed Forces, particularly, have evolved throughout a history of service. They reinforce their commitment to serve, and provide the foundation for their missions and identities.

Similarly, our civilian, or APS, values have evolved to reflect the greater flexibility, efficiency, and business practices required by today's organisation. These values, outlined in the Public Service Act 1999, are a consolidation of two decades of public administration reform. Their conceptual focus serves to outline the standards expected of us, by both the public and government administrative practice. They recognise that such expectations can only be achieved through trust, rather than increased procedure. APS staff must acknowledge that with this level of trust comes increased responsibility. Our freedom of action means that any breach of the Values or Code of Conduct may result in serious penalty, or even dismissal, for those responsible.

I am, thus, going to take this opportunity to outline the values of the APS. The APS:

• is apolitical, performing its functions in an impartial and professional manner;
• is a public service in which employment decisions are based on merit;
• provides a workplace that is free from discrimination and recognises and utilises the diversity of the Australian community it serves;
• has the highest ethical standards;
• is openly accountable for its actions, within the framework of Ministerial responsibility to the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public;
• is responsive to the Government in providing frank, honest, comprehensive, accurate and timely advice and in implementing the Government's policies and programs;
• delivers services fairly, effectively, impartially and courteously to the Australian public and is sensitive to the diversity of the Australian public;
• has leadership of the highest quality;
• establishes workplace relations that value communication, consultation, cooperation and input from employees on matters that affect their workplace;
• provides a fair, flexible, safe and rewarding workplace;
• focuses on achieving results and managing performance;
• promotes equity in employment;
• provides a reasonable opportunity to all eligible members of the community to apply for APS employment;
• is a career-based service to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of Australia's democratic system of government; and
• provides a fair system of review of decisions taken in respect of employees. I encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with these values.

If you haven't already visited the APS website, please do so. Additional material concerning APS Values can be found here, as well as the Code of Conduct. The links to this material can be found at www.apsc.gov.au/values.

Values are meaningless unless converted into behaviour and, within Defence, effort is made to enhance our values through better practice. For example, the Defence Equity Organisation (DEO) was established in 1987 to ensure equity and diversity throughout the Defence workplace. Our commitment to such principles is also reflected in our performance management system. Our Defence Employees' Certified Agreements, Australian Workplace Agreements, and tri-service performance appraisal systems provide avenues for all Defence employees to develop personally and professionally. Vital to this process is our practice of Plans on a Page, which enable workplace and individual objectives between staff and supervisors to be shared. Avenues of accountability and transparency are reinforced in our 'whistleblower scheme.' This scheme was set up to offer an alternative and independent process for the reporting and investigation of criminal activity or ethical behaviour, should it unfortunately occur.

Within Defence, our values need to reflect more than the behaviour they encourage. They are our commitment to creating an organisation responsible for better business practices and increased accountability. All APS staff need to take responsibility for the role they play in this commitment, through an increased awareness of the APS Values.

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