Deputy Secretary Defence People Group Carmel McGregor has been awarded for her leadership in advancing the position of women in the Australian Public Service. She speaks to Defence about what the accolades mean to her and her work driving the people strategy within Defence.

Deputy Secretary Defence People Group Carmel McGregor received a Public Service Excellence Award on October 15 from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government's Institute of Governance, and was awarded an Adjunct Professorship.

The awards were recognition of her outstanding contribution to the promotion of public sector excellence and, in particular, her work in enhancing the quality of service delivery in Australia and in advancing the position of women in the APS.

On October 12, Carmel was also a Public Policy joint category winner at the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence 2012 awards, which recognise the contribution female leaders make in building a more sustainable economic and social future for Australia.

Earlier this year, Carmel was awarded a National Fellow with the Institute of Public Administration for her work on the Review of Employment Pathways for APS Women in the Department of Defence.

How does it feel to receive such prestigious recognition for your work?

I feel very chuffed! It was a nice surprise and I'm proud that it recognises the contribution I've been very happy to make in the APS over a lengthy period, as well as the work I've started here in Defence in relation to advancing the position of women.

Your Public Service Excellence Award and Adjunct Professorship were presented particularly for your work in advancing the position of women in the APS. Why do you think this is important and how has the role of women in the APS changed in the time you have been a public servant?

Well, we are 50 per cent of the Australian population and I guess when you think of how the role of women has changed in the APS, some of it has been notable and dramatic, some less so.

When the Senior Executive Service was created about 25 years ago, only 4 per cent were women. That's increased to about 38 per cent today. So women are progressing through the upper echelon, and I take heart in that, but in my view there's still a long way to go. We bring different ways of thinking and different skills, just like other diversity groups. While the work for which I've been recognised focuses on the role of women, I think the APS needs to reflect all parts of the community.

How do you think APS women are positioned for the future?

I think women are well positioned for the future. In 2010, Government agreed to 28 recommendations of the report 'Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration', and I think the focus in that report on human capital and the future workforce gives us great opportunities across the broader APS.

(For more information on the report, visit www.dpmc.gov.au/reformgovernment.)

Your award of a National Fellow with the Institute of Public Administration Australia was for your work on the Review of Employment Pathways for APS Women in the Department of Defence. How is implementation of your review's recommendations progressing?

We are certainly well advanced, particularly in the recommendation relating to women's ability to influence. It was very heartening to see the Chief of the Defence Force and former Secretary act on that quickly in terms of appointing women to senior committees and decision-making boards. As well, we are starting to see position reaction to implementation of the support mechanism around the women's mentoring network.

The recommendations I made in my report are complementary to Elizabeth Broderick's report, and all will be implemented over a period of time. Personally I was pleased they were all accepted, and we're now on a path of implementation with Defence People Group leading the way.

Since starting with Defence in March, what have been the main highlights?

The fact that we have been able to implement some tangible aspects of the Pathway to Change strategy has been a key highlight. We've also had some recent breakthroughs in the People Committee, in relation to the ADF pushing for more flexible workplace policies - things like purchasing leave, which has been available to the APS but not the ADF. I'm pleased the ADF is taking an active approach to making these changes - they're small but very important.

Since I began, I've also been pleased that we've been able to build a good executive team in Defence People Group. We've pulled together some of the people support functions from other parts of Defence and created a strong Group.

How is your leadership role and your Group influencing culture change within Defence?

The Pathway to Change strategy incorporates 175 recommendations, and more will arise from Elizabeth Broderick's review. We need to implement all those recommendations, however, just implementing recommendations won't actually change the culture.

The whole issue of cultural change is a leadership issue. The implementation strategy is focused on leadership and, through the Defence 100 - Defence's senior leadership - we are making it clear to people what is expected of them as leaders and individuals. This is crucial to the success of Pathway to Change. It will be a long-haul journey - at least five years, and even that is relatively short for changing things that have been entrenched in an organisation for so long.

What are Defence People Group's main priorities and challenges for 2013?

Pathway to Change is ever present, however, next year one of the key priorities as the ADF transitions in Afghanistan will be ensuring that Defence develops an attractive employment offer to keep people in the organisation.

Of course there are a myriad of other issues, including Joint Project 2080 (the project amalgamating Defence Human Resources management and payroll systems - see page 26), shared services implementation, and people services, and these all have to be managed with a reduced workforce.