Gordon de Brouwer leaves as APS Commissioner having strengthened capability processes and leadership roles, but without the legislative and institutional reforms needed to restore integrity, independence and long-term resilience.

Gordon de Brouwer is leaving the APS in February after nearly three years as APS Commissioner following just under a year as Secretary for Public Service Reform.

It was a propitious time to pursue reform: a new government with an election platform to rebuild APS capability and strengthen integrity and transparency; a promise to reconsider the recommendations of the 2019 (Thodey) Independent Review of the APS that the previous government had rejected; and the impending Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme expected to add impetus to much-needed reforms. Glyn Davis, a member of the Thodey Review and an expert in public administration as scholar and practitioner, had also just been appointed Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. And of course, de Brouwer himself had been a member of the Thodey Review.

As he and Davis have noted in the past, their views on the reforms needed are largely in the public arena in the Thodey recommendations. On this basis, it is hard to believe that de Brouwer would not have advised support for more fundamental reforms, for example on secretary appointments and terminations and tenure, on the role and appointment of the APS Commissioner, or for legislative reforms to board appointments along the lines recommended by Lynelle Briggs.

That such reforms have not been made no doubt reflect the unwillingness of Albanese and some of his ministers to have their political powers constrained.

In the absence of substantial legislative reform, de Brouwer (and Davis) would seem to have improved the processes within the APS for advising on secretary appointments and terminations and strengthened succession management arrangements, building on processes established by earlier Commissioners starting with Helen Williams. On at least one occasion, they convinced ministers to advertise a position.

With Davis’s support, de Brouwer has also increased the position of the APS Commissioner amongst the APS leadership, particularly through the Secretaries Board.

He has contributed to the effort to reduce reliance on consultants, contractors and labour hire and to rebuild in-house capability, though we are yet to see data on the level of success since the 2023 Finance/APSC Audit of Employment.

He has also cemented the renewed system of capability reviews which, over time, should lead to rebuilding depth of expertise across the APS, particularly........

© Pearls and Irritations