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On Friday afternoon, David Thodey reflected on the 2019 APS review he led and said that he thinks working for Australia’s public service should be the best job in the country.
Thodey, now chair of Xero and Tyro, was recently speaking at the Governance Institute of Australia’s National Public Sector Governance Forum 2022.
The chairman said during the session that he Passionately believes working in the public service should be Australia’s most desired career.
“People work for places they enjoy being, and they feel like they make a difference,” Thodey said to the audience.
“The public service should be that place: incredible influence you have, incredible people you have, and I think we need to celebrate the public service.”
Thodey explained that while pay is significant, it was not in the top 10 issues with the public service he did back in 2019 under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Being fairly compensated is essential to people, but usually, there are other reasons they stay in a position. Instead, it has more to do with how satisfied they are with their job.
Thodey had positive things to say about the work of Minister for the Public Service Katy Gallagher and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, saying that their attitude is reflected in the public service.
He had good things to say about the Australian Public Service Commission’s (APSC’s) new workforce strategy, the APS Academy, and the classification review still in progress.
Thodey also argued that the anti-silo approach used in government should be applied to Australia’s workforce sectors. He said that, compared to other OECD countries, Australia has fewer connections between academia, government, and the public sector. He mentioned how people in the US move between these sectors more often.
“People are richer for understanding the different perspectives and skills that you require to be a good public servant, especially in leadership,” Thodey stated.
When questioned about cybersecurity and the recent Optus data breach, Thodey responded with three questions: “What data do we have? Why do we keep it? If you must keep it, is it encrypted?”
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