Happy pay week, bureaucrat friends.
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The Australian Public Service Commission is due to revisit its final pay offer for the next three years in bargaining with unions and agencies on Tuesday.
The Community and Public Sector Union is hopeful it will be better than an initial 10.5 per cent offer, but it won't be anywhere near the 20 per cent the union wanted (Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher literally called that "impossible").
In anticipation of that offer, we've been sifting through the APS Remuneration Report for 2022, and thought we'd bring you a look at performance bonuses across the public sector, and which groups are getting the sweetest deals.
Bonuses have actually tumbled since a new policy discouraging them was introduced in 2021. The number of APS who received a bonus in 2022 decreased by 30 per cent (compared to 2021), and that figure fell by 69 per cent for SES.
![Who got the sweetest deals in 2022, according to the APSC's Remuneration Report. Who got the sweetest deals in 2022, according to the APSC's Remuneration Report.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/212131485/a63fb08b-8516-4955-92ad-a5d38e7f67d6.jpg/r0_0_3098_1453_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The median performance bonus in 2022 was $1286 for APS staff (down from $1674 in 2021) and $6022 for SES ($10,249 in 2021). But those who did have a little extra in the pay packet, cleaned up fairly well.
Of those at the APS6 classification, the most typical rank in the federal public sector, 141 pocketed performance bonuses up to $110,073, with an average of $11,086. Not too shabby.
Climbing up the ladder, 138 EL1s received a little something extra, ranging between $351 and $158,936, with an average sum of $15,425. Things start to get a little more enticing at the EL2 level, where 133 public servants were paid performance bonuses, with the maximum $476,351 (and an average of $49,466).
Those packages get better yet in the senior executive service, where the maximum payouts were $30,375 (SES1), $321,325 (SES2) and $399,933 (SES3). On average those ranks were paid $8,229, $89,882 and $399,933, respectively.
Stay tuned for more on pay this week.
ANAO report takes APS to task
The Australian National Audit Office has called out the public sector for its approach to integrity standards and cyber security.
In a scathing foreword for this year's annual report, auditor-general Grant Hehir recalled multiple instances where government entities failed to meet ethical standards, kept poor records, and knowingly breached procurement and grant rules.
![Auditor-general Grant Hehir is not happy with the APS. Picture by Dion Georgopoulos Auditor-general Grant Hehir is not happy with the APS. Picture by Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/cd5f5a90-084d-45de-b453-3947506c25d4.jpg/r0_218_4256_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Not consistently meeting requirements raises questions of whether compliance with them and their intent is embedded as part of public sector culture," Mr Hehir wrote, adding that sector leaders needed to set the tone. He also warned that stronger, more independent APS oversight may be required.
Turning to cyber security protocol (or lack thereof), the ANAO found that 53 of 144 government departments and agencies assessed during 2021-22 had no policy around removing user access or defining the time frame in which access should be removed after a user left.
Of those departments and agencies, 119 did not have an effective way of monitoring access to their systems after a user left. The audit office only delivered 40 performance audit reports to parliament last financial year (short of its target of 42), a problem Mr Hehir blamed on "an underestimation of the time and cost involved in rebuilding the performance audit workforce".
DCCEEW changes consultant spending approvals
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water has made some changes to the financial delegations for spending on consultancy contracts this month.
Documents circulated to staff - and seen by The Canberra Times - show the total amount staff can approve under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act has changed, and in some cases reduced, for consultancy procurement.
Previously, the chief financial officer and those on band SES3 could approve any spending on consultants, up to the department's limit of available funds. Those on SES2 and SES1 could also approve up to the their division/ branch or program budget.
But since August 1, the guidelines have changed to stipulate that SES3 can approve up to $100 million, SES2 can approve up to $2 million, and SES1 can approve up to $500,000. While EL2 staff could previously approve up to $80,000, it looks as though that power has been taken away altogether.
A spokesperson for DCCEEW said that the delegations had been updated to "coincide with the department's new finance system going live", but didn't give any other reason for the changes.
We'll keep digging to find the FOI gold
Public Eye was emboldened by a recently successful freedom-of-information request that some public servants would (and did) turn their noses up at (ahem, Ray Griggs' headshots).
This time we were determined to uncover correspondence relating to the procurement of three golden shovels used at the sod turning of the John Gorton campus car park.
![Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher, Barpa chairman Graham Atkinson and Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson with the golden shovels. Picture by Karleen Minney Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher, Barpa chairman Graham Atkinson and Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson with the golden shovels. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/000a08d1-74a4-4c16-a182-161cc359f476.jpg/r0_218_4256_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Once built, the five-storey car park will facilitate extra office workers heading to the secretive National Security Office Precinct, which could have a price tag of $2 billion (or more).
The three golden shovels in question were used by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, department boss Jenny Wilkinson and chairman of construction company Barpa Graham Atkinson.
But plans to uncover more were quickly foiled: "Finance advises that the golden shovels that are the subject of your request were not procured by Finance and are owned by the construction company," an FOI officer informed us.
Another fan of FOIs should have some things to say about transparency next week.
The former FOI commissioner Leo Hardiman, who resigned citing systemic issues in May, will appear before a Senate committee hearing on Commonwealth Freedom of Information laws next Tuesday. We hope it's spicy.
Deloitte snaps up former ATO staff
Deloitte has hired 18 former ATO employees since January 2019. The firm revealed in response to questions from Labor senator Deborah O'Neill, during a parliamentary committee hearing.
Thirteen of the hires are in their tax and legal business, and four have joined as partners.
More proof that consultancies prove fierce competition for the APS: No Deloitte partners have left to join the ATO in the last seven years.
The firm also has a Confidential Information Management Plan for each ATO hire, which they use to proactively manage potential conflicts of interest.
Over to you
- What is your favourite APS jargon?
- ps@canberratimes.com.au
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