From hierarchy to contracts and back again: reforming the Australian public service

Abstract

Public service reform in Australia has been continuous for more than two decades. Commentators disagree only on how to characterise the changes. In the 1950s and 1960s, the traditional features of the Australian public service used to include elaborate rules for most public work, a strict hierarchy of offices, central agencies responsible for personnel policy and financial management, and agency corporate staff to support policy development and program delivery. Entry to the public service was governed by entrance exams, and followed by applying personnel rules, appeal systems and tenured employment. Most accounts of the causes of public-sector reform point to globalisation, poor economic performance, information technology and the changing relationship between state and civil society. Australian economic policy further illustrates the point. The need to be competitive and join international markets may be apolitical truism. International, economic and social pressures may generate significant change in government, but this outcome is not necessary.

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