CHECK-AGAINST DELIVERY
PRIME MINISTERFOR
MEDIA THURSDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 1982
REVIEW OF COMMONWEALTH ADMINISTRATION
in my statement in Parliament on 21 September 1982,
concerning the Royal Commission on the Australian Meat
Industry, I referred to breakdowns and administrative
failures in a number of areas of government admini.-
stration over the last decade or so.
These matters are obviously of the gravest concern to
all Australians: efficient and effective public
administration is Vital for maintaining the kind of
Australia that we want for our children. The people of
Australia have a right to expect good, honest, efficient
and effective administration, and the Government is
determined to take every possible step to ensure that
this occurs.
In each instance wherethere has been a breakdown in
Public Service administration over recent years, the
Government has made an appropriate and prompt response
to remedy the deficiencies that have come to notice.
But the Government believes that it is vital not only to
remedy deficiencies in administration as they become
known, but also to look more broadly at the Public
Service and the demands upon it in order to do whatever
can be done to prevent such breakdowns occurring.
The general health of the Public Service, including its
efficiency and management, must be a matter of the
highest concern for government. The Public Service
broadly interpreted to include departments and
authorities must be equipped with the kinds of
management structures and tools which will enableit to
deliver government programmes effectively to the people
of Australia, and which will allow it to keep up with
new technology and with changes in community and
business requirements and attitudes.
The Government believes there is a question whether the
Public Service, as presently organised, has the
management tools, the flexibility and the capacities to
meet the challenges that presently exist and that lie
ahead. Departments and authorities must be able not
only to meet the demands of today, but to anticipate the
demands of tomorrow.
There are three evolutionary changes which present
challenges to public administration at the present time.
The first is changing technology, and the so-called
information explosion.
The Public Service needs to be able to cope with the
significant technological changes and the growth of
information which have been and will be taking place,
including the relevance of computer technology to public
administration. Governments and their agencies must be
able to be responsive to, and to take advantage of, new
methods of gathering, processing and applying
information.
But it is not just a matter of applying new technology
to growing information. It is also a matter of knowing
what information is needed and in what form it is
needed to enable departments, authorities and
Ministers to carry out their functions efficiently and
effectively; and a matter of being able to take
practical steps for satisfying these requirements.
The second challenge is posed by the increasing demands
on the public sector flowing from a greater involvement
by government in areas such as social welfare, health,
education and national development, plus many other
areas of concern to the community. The increased scope
and the wider activities of government obviously
enlarges the responsibilities of public administration
enormously and creates difficulties in relation to
adequate communications, accountability and control.
The third challenge, I regret to say, arises from a
deterioration in what I might call the " business
ethics" of a minority.
There was a time when the administration, in its
relationships with business, could assume that a high
degree of trust was appropriate. The Service did not
have to be geared to handle cheating on a large scale.
Of course, there have always been those in the community
who have been prepared to get away with as much as they
can without too much regard for what might be regarded
as. honour, let alone the law: but in the past this has
not been an element which has put significant stress on
the Service itself.
As recent events relating to taxation, meat substitution
and health schemes show only too clearly, there are
those outside the administration and I stress that
they are very much a minority who are prepared to act
ruthlessly in what they perceive as their own interests,
without regard either to the interests of the community
or the observation of the law.
It is that third challenge, which has been particularly
instrurental-in leading the Government to the view that
at this time there is a need to look closely at the
management tools, the.-flexibility and the capacity of
the Service as presently organised. There have been a
number of administrative breakdowns which have flowed
from the Service's inability to respond speedily and
adequately to the challenges posed by those who seek to
behave unethically or even illegally.
Those in the community who cheat on their obligations to
others or attempt dishonestly to evade the law, whether
by evading taxation or meat inspection regulations or
any other laws or regulations, not only bring dishonour
on themselves: they impose real strains on the public
service of this country, and on the social and economic
fabric which is vital to our way of life.
It is a particular tragedy that small numbers of
failures by individuals who have fallen to temptation to
give favours or seek favours have brought the Public
Service into disrepute.
The Public Service itself wants to respond to the
criticisms that have been made against it..--They are not
criticisms that are made against the Service as a whole
but the Service as a whole is touched. by them. many
public servants feel that the reputation of the Service
has been badly tarnished by recent happenings and that
it needs to re-establish the high reputation that it
feels it has earned in the past.
I would not wish what I am saying to. overshadow the very
solid work that is being done in the greater part of the
Public Service: it is unfortunate, but inevitable, that
public attention tends to be focused on what is wrong,
not on what is right. But I have said before and I say
again now that I have enormous.: respect for the
dedication and management skills of the Public Service,
and for the people who staff it.. By world standards we
have a public service of high reputation.
But the Public Service cannot live on its reputation and,
in particular it must meet changes with adequate-. administrative
responses. It is clear that the Service needs
to be a jump ahead of those who seek to frustrate it in
carrying out its proper functions.
Both to assist in achieving this and to create the
opportunity for the public to be reassured about the
future of the Service, the Government proposes that
there should be a report to the Government on aspects of
the performance of the whole Commonwealth
Ad mi ni strat ion.
Both through an examination of the underlying . causes of
major administrative deficiencies of the kind that have
occurred in recent years, and through a wider
examination of management skills and management
structures throughout Commonwealth Government
departments and authorities, the Review of Commonwealth
Administration is to be asked
to examine, report on and make recommendations in
relation to the requirements for an efficient and
effective public service in Australia;
and in particular to identify the demands and
pressures placed upon the public service, and the
mechanisms, procedures and management structures
which are required to enable the public service to
carry out its functions, implement Government policy
and deliver programmes effectively and efficiently
to the people of Australia.
The Review in particular should take into account:
the need for-the public service to-have high
standards and good morale;
the need for the public service to provide the
professional managerial component of public
admin-istration;
the need for the public service to possess
management skills and to develop management
structures capable of meeting and responding to the
challenges of an increasingly complex business,
economic and social environment;
the need for the public service to provide
constructive and imaginative policy advice, and
adequate mechanisms for ensuring the effective
implementation of the Government's policy decisions;
the need for accountability of the public service
while maintaining the concept of a non-political
career public service based on merit, capable of
providing effective support for Ministers in
relation to their administrative and policy-making
responsibilities."
Although the. Review involves a major examination of
Commonwealth administration, it is not intended that it
should be a protracted one. The Government accepts that
in the interests of a timely completion of the Review,
in some areas of concern-it may be possible only to
provide indications of further work that will need to be
done to achieve our ultimate objective.
It is not proposed that this Review should repeat the
work done by the Coombs Royal Commission, which was the
first comprehensive review of government administration
in over 50 years and had the broadest possible terms of
reference. Nor is it proposed to duplicate the
particular work done by parliamentary committees, by the
Auditor-General,.-by the Public Service Board and by
management consultants and others who may have examined,
or be examining, particular aspects of the Service.
This Review is to focus specifi cally on the management
framework, the constraints which face public sector
managers, and the challenges that they will have to
confront in the future.
The Government is looking for a report, from people of
high reputation in their own business fields, which
assesses what they see as the deficiencies, the problems
and the appropriate remedies.
Mr J. B. Reid, has accepted the role of Chairman
of the Review. Mr Reid is Chairman of James Hardie
Industries Limited, Vice Chairman of Qantas and a
Director of BHP and Barclays International Australia
Limited. He was a member of the Administrative Review
Committee in 1975/ 76 ( chaired by Sir Henry Bland) and a
member of the inquiry into the Commonwealth Serum
Laboratories in 1978. He has been also a member of
various other government bodies and currently is
chairman of the Australian Bicentennial Authority.
Mr Reid will -be assisted by Sir Ronald Elliott, and
Professor John Rose.
Sir Ronald Elliott is a Director of Brambles Industries
Limited and International Commodities Clearing House
Limited. He is the former Managing Director of the
Commonwealth Banking Corporation. Sir Ronald has been a
member of the Council of the Administrative Staff
College and is a Fellow of the the Australian Institute
of Management.
Professor Rose is Sidney Myer Professor of Commerce and
Business Administration at the University of Melbourne,
and since 1976 has been a Consultant in my private
office. All three members of the Review are obviously well
qualified for the task, and the Government is grateful
to them for accepting this most important role.
The Review will have full access in all areas of
government administration to see and consult with
whoever they determine, whether from inside or outside
the Public Service and statutory authorities.
The administration will have an opportunity to explain
its task and its methods of carrying it out and, also,
the nature of the constraints which distinguish
government administration from the business world.
People from outsde the administration, with substantial
and established reputations in the business world, will
have an opportunity to say what they think the Public
Service should be doing and here the Review would be
looking no doubt for positive and realistic guidance
capable of being put into practical. effect.
The Inquiry will be assisted by a small secretariat,
headed by Mr H. B. MacDonald, Deputy Secretary in the
Department of Administrative Services.
Mr Reid has indicated that he would expect to be able to
report before the Autumn sitting of the Parliament.
As I stated earlier and as no-one in this House would
deny, the people of Australia have a right to expect
good, honest, efficient and effective administration in
the public sector. With the assistance of this Review
of Commonwealth Administration the Government is
determined to see that they get it.
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4.. REVIEW OF COMMONWEALTH ADMINISTRATION
TERMS OF REFERENCE
To examine, report on and make recommendations in
relation to the requirements for an efficient and
effective public service in Australia; and in particular
to identify the demands and pressures placed upon the
public service, and the mechanisms, procedures and
management structures which are required to enable the
public service to carry out its functions, implement
Government policy and deliver programmes effectively and
efficiently to the people of Australia.
The Review in particular should take into account:
the need for the public service to. have high
standards and good morale;
the need for the public service to provide the
professional managerial component of public
-ad mi nis t ra tion;
the need for the public service to possess
management skills and to develop management
structures capable of meeting and responding
to the challenges of an increasingly complex
business, economic and social environment;
the need for the public service to provide
constructive and imaginative policy advice,
and adequate mechanisms for ensuring the
effective implementation of the Government's
policy decision;
the need for accountability of the public
service while maintaining the concept of a
non-political career public service based on
merit, capable of providing effective support
for Ministers in. relation to their
administrative and policy-making
responsibilities. oooO OOooo---