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PART I Enhancing the Quality of Education and Training for the Public Sector
Australia
According to the respondents, a large number of future issues will follow from
the reforms undertaken in the 1980s. In fact, the Australian public administration
has experienced several important changes, in particular: the revision of the role
of the Federal State, the redefining of the ministries’ mandates and the elimina-
tion of several organizations, the creation of agencies with a Chief Executive
Officer at their head, the withdrawal of the government from the direct delivery
of public services, the presentation of public-policy advice based on the principle
of contestability, the adoption of a more business-like management approach, and
the emphasis put on budget and results-based management.
The main issues identified by the persons interviewed are: the continuation
of the redefining of the role of government, the competition for policy advice,
market testing, new information technologies, the aging of senior public servants,
the recruitment and retaining of younger employees, the questioning of loyalty
toward the organization, and the exposure to the global context.
What is the role of government? The debate on this question is not over. Ac-
cording to the managers met, the government’s role must not be static; it must
adapt to the times. The public now believes that the private sector has improved
to a greater extent than the public sector, and, if the government wants to win
back the public’s confidence, the role of the Federal State must be repositioned
according to present and future issues. But the pursuit of the redefining of the
role of the State in Australia is often thwarted by the federal government’s politi-
cal mandate that is only three years. The Australian government is trying to deal
with this serious shortcoming by prolonging the mandate to govern from three
to five years.
On the heels of its reforms, the Australian government has greatly reduced the
pre-eminent position of public servants concerning policy advice by opening up this
field to competition from consultants, not-for-profit organizations and the private
sector. In the opinion of Australian observers, the Australian federal government
is seeking, through this change, to open the way to other sources of advice and
to reduce the power of public servants in this area. However, Australian public
servants are trying to maintain their influence in the area of policy advice. The
public servants have reacted by developing new strategies aimed at maintaining their
privileged status with regard to public policies. Among the strategies in question
is the anticipation of the requests of the ministry’s or organization’s clients.
This has had several consequences for the public service. Public servants are faced
with competition at two levels: the development of policies and their implementa-
tion. In this way, they pay more attention to this task in order to remain credible
in the eyes of the ministry and the government. In this context, the ministries
and organizations must deal with competitive sources of policy advice, and these
sources often have more resources at their disposal.
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… Competencies of Senior Managers: A Look at Some OECD Countries
In the opinion of the Australian respondents, the introduction of market forces
into the Australian public administration was a major change emanating from the
reforms of the 1980s. The ministries are no longer in a monopolistic position; they
are in competition with the private sector and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs). As a result, public servants must adapt to the competition and develop a
management style similar to that of their counterparts in the private sector. More
specifically, this means that public organizations must become as competitive as
the private sector, rapidly handle clients’ requests and respond to them, attentively
manage the resources that are available to them, while at the same time, obtaining
significant value added for the clients. Winning a contract by being more competi-
tive than the private sector has become a standard of the measure of the quality
of management in the Australian public service.
The advent of new information technologies is seen by Australian senior man-
agers as one of the important issues for the coming years. At this time and over
the course of the next four years, the Australian federal government is trying to
put the majority of its services on line. In addition to democratizing the access to
information, the new technologies are going to change the relations with elected
officials, citizens and the public administration. Although the persons met consider
that the information technologies are very promising, these same technologies
worry Australians who value discretion and the protection of privacy. Australian
managers also think that the new information technologies are going to change
the style of management of their institutions by eliminating the dividing line
separating organizations and even the boundaries between countries. Australians
also wonder about the competence of the public servants who will be called upon
to manage in the context of new information technologies and about the impact
of the latter on human resources and their management.
According to the managers met, the Australian public service is also faced
with the aging of its senior public servants. About 50 % will retire in the next
ten years. This situation will cause a loss of experienced managers. Australian
managers see this problem as a very serious issue that requires urgent measures.
Within this context, Australia has already begun to prepare for the replacement
of senior managers.
As in a good number of western countries, the Australian federal public service
is preoccupied with replacing its aging personnel. However, recruiting and retain-
ing young workers also seems to be a challenge. Young people are better educated
and more demanding and accord more importance to the quality of life. Moreover,
the government is in competition with the private sector for the best candidates.
To deal with these issues, Australian public managers think that it is necessary to
change the internal environment and the management style in order to keep new
recruits, to identify the new factors that motivate today’s generation and to offer
them an interesting and stimulating job.
Drastic cuts in the public service following the vast reforms had provoked a
questioning of loyalty toward the government as employer. In the opinion of the
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