An outgoing leader of the public service has called for a shift in mindset. 

Retiring Australian Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott has warned that the public service must do better following the robo-debt royal commission and the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. 

Speaking at his valedictory speech to the Institute of Public Administration Australia, Woolcott said that the public service must adopt a different mindset and collaboratively engage with civil society and business groups to shape programs and initiatives.

Hearings into the unlawful robo-debt scheme have “given us cause to think about our governance, our leadership behaviours and our culture”, Woolcott said. 

“We need to do much better, particularly for vulnerable Australians. It has provided a shock to the system, and it will lead to further change.”

Woolcott also cautioned that the rapid take-up of remote working meant the public service needed to be more flexible, “adopting hiring practices that are more outward looking and make the APS more porous”. 

“We know that the future workforce will be more mobile and will have multiple careers,” he said. 

“Younger people are not necessarily going to join the APS for life. If we are going to obtain and develop the capabilities we require in the APS of the future we need to be imaginative about how we use leave without pay and how we stay connected with those who may have left.

“The way we worked in addressing the pandemic needs to be more commonplace and part of a cultural shift in the APS.”

Woolcott also said the APS needs to adapt to the new power dynamic of the social media-connected world. 

“It does require a different mindset,” he said. 

“Concurrently we need to recognise that there has been a shift in the nature of power. That, as a result of new communications technologies, power is moving to coalitions and networks.”

The former diplomat and adviser to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull knocked back claims that the public service no longer gives frank advice. 

“Contrary to what critics say, my general experience is that it’s not often APS leaders shy away from that responsibility. I say this from seeing both sides of the fence, as a prime minister’s chief of staff and in my dealings with agency head colleagues,” he said. 

“It is, however, about doing so using street smarts, influence and about offering appropriate alternatives.”

Te suggested a better relationship had to be found with ministerial officials. 

“We also need to be thinking imaginatively about how the working relationship between the APS and ministerial offices can be enhanced. The APS needs to encourage its best to work in ministerial offices – to give them a deeper understanding of the speed with which things move and the pressures that quickly bear down on ministers. It will make them better public servants,” Woolcott said. 

He warned that the APS needs to be a smarter customer, especially in regard to multibillion-dollar investments in digital transformation, and continued issues with the deployment of a new visa and business registry system.

Mr Woolcott also addressed diversity and inclusion within the APS. 

The federal public service has reached gender parity, but still shows a gender pay gap of about 6 per cent, and struggles to attract people from non-Anglo Saxon communities. 

“We have made giant steps with women in leadership positions. If we bring the same drive and commitment from the top, we will succeed with the other groups,” Woolcott said. 

“The biggest mistake we can make is not recruiting people because they are not like us, or rejecting people if we bring them in because they haven’t become like us.”