Moving on the ‘long game’ of public sector reform

The appointment of Gordon de Brouwer as a dedicated secretary for public-sector reform is expected to reboot the reform agenda, which has been slow walked, despite the clear Thodey review finding that the Australian Public Service was not fit for the modern world.

The elephant in the room is the cultural lethargy within the APS. Senior leaders told the Thodey review the APS was cautious, reactive, siloed and passive, with some describing the APS as jaded, conservative and ploddingly functional.