![Social Services Department secretary Ray Griggs, left, Services Australia's Hank Jongen, centre, and Services Australia chief executive officer Rebecca Skinner, right, are here to serve. Social Services Department secretary Ray Griggs, left, Services Australia's Hank Jongen, centre, and Services Australia chief executive officer Rebecca Skinner, right, are here to serve.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/c4502de2-7eef-45ba-a84c-81e6768f88eb.jpg/r0_0_1696_795_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Services Australia bosses need to spend some time in service delivery roles, the robodebt royal commissioner Catherine Holmes says.
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The time has come for the APS to face the consequences of the unlawful debt collecting scheme it rolled out, which left hundreds of thousands of Australians traumatised "on the off-chance they might owe money".
The royal commission handed down its findings of Friday, identifying "repeated failures" by public servants to do their jobs, and structural issues which allowed the scheme to run. Key public servants involved could also face civil action or criminal prosecution.
Recommendations included that the Department of Social Services and Services Australia should introduce mechanisms to make sure all new programs and schemes are developed with a customer-centric focus.
(You would think that goes without saying, but er, no.)
And, top officials in Services Australia need to show up and face the people they really work for, the commissioner continued: Senior executive staff in the service delivery agency should have to spend time in front-line service delivery.
They also should have to talk to people who actually engage with Australians accessing Centrelink.
Those people are experienced Centrelink workers who spend time in non-government community services, and understand the barriers faced by those trying to access income supports and entitlements.
The commissioner even tried to enshrine this people-first approach in the language of her report, providing some editorial notes on "public service jargon".
"The Commission has tried, as far as possible, to avoid falling into what, without wishing to offend, might be called public service jargon," she wrote.
"It has, however, had to resort to the use of acronyms because the report would be considerably longer if, for example, every time the Department of Social Services were referred to, its name had to be set out in full."
She went on to explain, that though government agencies had referred to people accessing Centrelink as "customers", the Commission would not do that, because the scheme had so little to do with service. The term "recipients" was used instead.
Furthermore, Services Australia needs to set up a "knowledge college", to provide training and development to staff.
The recommendation is based on a former academy within Centrelink which was eventually disbanded.
Fulfill your dreams of becoming an auditor
Speaking of knowledge colleges, the Australian National Audit Office is also stocking up on school supplies.
The audit office is responding to recruitment struggles across the public service by focusing on internal training.
It launched the ANAO Academy in 2022 in an effort to teach "excellent candidates with broad skills" how to become great auditors.
The agency's 2023-24 corporate plan, published last week, provides further insight into the academy's four-year plan to foster "a contemporary and continuous learning culture, beyond traditional forms of training and development".
What does that mean? Basically developing the skillset of its staff, creating pathways for them to rise to the top, and figuring out how to retain them in the process.
Happy auditing!
Kennedy a man of many gifts
Gift registers are a fun place to peruse for journalists looking to sniff out a story on a Penfolds Grange 1959 or a Cartier watch.
There's, of course, nothing remotely of the sort in the Treasury Department's gift register but there are some curious gifts we think rate a mention.
The eye-straining A3 document was released under someone's freedom-of-information request and shows the country's top money man, Dr Steven Kennedy, sure does receive a lot of books, which he sends to the "Treasury library" for all staff to presumably borrow.
Some of those books sent to the department's collection included Lessons from history by Carolyn Holbrook, Lyndon Megarrity and David Lowe, Rise of the extreme right by Lydia Khalil and Tax and Government in the 21st Century by Miranda Stewart.
There's also Black Belt by Joseph Healy and David Hornery and Master of the Game by Martin Indyk. We wonder if there's a late fee for any tardy borrowers?
![Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy is a man of many gifts. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy is a man of many gifts. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/758459d7-4841-476d-a01b-3d2e11fb39b7.jpg/r0_367_5500_3459_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Books weren't the only types to be kept in-house for staff to use.
Dr Kennedy also received two Christmas ornaments, which were kept to put on the Treasury tree.
There was also the time he received a box of macaroons from the Singaporean high commissioner, which he shared with his executive team, according to the register.
Or the bottle of wine he donated to the department's social club.
Finally, the big boss was gifted a woman's silk scarf by the Indonesian Treasury delegation. Staying on brand, the scarf was also reportedly stored within the department.
We're not sure how sharing that one works.
READ MORE:
APS's low Threads count
It appears the Australian Public Service won't be early adopters of new social media site Threads. A quick check of which agencies are up and running revealed the APS are overwhelmingly laggards.
Just the National Museum of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive had made the bold leap.
Despite the Health and Foreign Affairs and Trade departments having Instagram accounts, the two haven't yet migrated to the Twitter clone.
Outside of the federal bureaucracy, the NSW and Victorian governments had broken new ground on the site along with state departments.
Totally under control
Parliament House occupants this week have been warned about a television drama series being filmed on the hill between Monday July 10 and Tuesday July 18.
Our sources tell us it's not another salacious season of Secret City but instead another Canberra-centred classic, Total Control.
Apparently, the filming schedules shouldn't impact anyone too much and all will be appropriately warned if they're within shot.
"Signage will be erected to notify building occupants where filming is in progress in a particular location. These areas will remain accessible to building occupants throughout the filming," the Department of Parliamentary Services notice said.
Consider it a warning, or an invitation, to all public servants anywhere near the building.
Over to you
- What do you think of the royal commission's findings into robodebt?
- Should senior executives be sent to the front line in order to better understand their agencies?
- ps@canberratimes.com.au