Commissioner for Public Administration
Catherine Hudson - Commissioner
Phone: +61 2 620 50358
On this page:
Commissioner's Responsibilites
About the Commissioner
The office of the Commissioner for Public Administration (Commissioner) is established under section 18 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 
(the PSM Act). The Chief Minister has responsibility for appointing a Commissioner.
Division 3.2 of the PSM Act outlines the central functions of the Commissioner, which are to:
- advise the Chief Minister on the management of the service as a whole (section 20)
- implement administrative rearrangements at the direction of the Chief Minister (section 20)
- conduct management reviews in relation to the service or functions of the service, in whole or in part (section 21)
- inspect, or make inquiries or investigations into the operations of, government agencies (section 22)
- exercise any other functions given to the Commissioner by law (section 20).
To assist in the management of the service as a whole, the Commissioner holds other powers and functions under the PSM Act and Public Sector Management Standards (Standards). These powers and functions relate to the operation of the public service. Among other things, these include the power to:
- transfer offices, officers, employees and unattached employees between administrative units
- reclassify an office
- notify appointments, transfers, promotions, retirements or dismissals in the Gazette
- approve the reengagement of officers and employees who have received a voluntary redundancy within two years of the redundancy
- enter into arrangements with other jurisdictions to second staff to and from the ACT Public Service (ACTPS)
- make PSM Standards
- waive the requirement for an independent job evaluation where a person is to perform a short term executive office
- recognise prior service not recognised elsewhere.
In addition to the powers of the Commissioner under the PSM Act and Standards, the Commissioner has functions under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth), the Commissioner for the Environment Act 1993, the Freedom of Information Act 1989, and the Legal Aid Act 1977.
The Commissioner also has powers under agency collective agreements made under the Commonwealth's Workplace Relations Act 1996 or enterprise agreements made under the Fair Work Act 2009.
The powers of the Commissioner under such Agreements include the power to:
- issue guidelines on salary packaging
- approve independent reviewers to sit on appeal panels or undertake reviews into agency decisions.
As Collective Agreements, Enterprise Agreements, Australian Workplace Agreements and Awards are made under Commonwealth legislation, their terms and conditions prevail over ACT legislation to the extent of any inconsistency. This means that in some instances, they may impact on the powers of the Commissioner provided under the PSM Act and Standards.
The office of Commissioner has historically been characterised as a part time office. On 3 July 2006 Ms Catherine Hudson was appointed as Commissioner and concurrently holds that office and the position of the Deputy Chief Executive, Governance Division of the Chief Minister’s Department. This concurrent arrangement has been in place since February 2006 and replicates the model used between 1995 and 1999 where a senior executive with departmental responsibilities also held the office of Commissioner.
The Commissioner does not have staff with discrete responsibility for supporting the office. Instead, the Commissioner relies on the capacity of the staff of the Governance Division, and in particular the Public Sector Management Group, to support her office.
Commissioner's Responsibilities
Employment responsibilities
The Commissioner is also responsible for maintaining the core employment rules for the ACTPS through the PSM Act and Standards. The Commissioner is authorised to make Standards under Section 251 of the PSM Act, subject to the agreement of the Chief Minister.
However, through the process of enterprise bargaining, ACTPS agencies negotiate local employment terms that wholly or partially override the terms of employment given in the PSM Act and Standards.
While general employment terms and conditions are regulated by the PSM Act and Standards, Industrial Agreements and Awards made under the Commonwealth's Workplace Relations Act 1996 or Fair Work Act 2009 may also provide for terms and conditions of employment. Such Agreements override the PSM Act and PSM Standards to the extent of any inconsistency.
Public Interest Disclosures
The Commissioner is defined as a government agency under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994 and is therefore authorised to recieve public interest discolsures.
A general Guide to the Public Interest Disclosure Act can be found here: [
PDF 124KB ]
A Procedural Guide to actioning public interest disclosures can be found here: [ PDF 185KB ]
ACTPS Human Resources Council
The Commissioner chairs the ACT Public Service Human Resources Council. The Council was established in May 2001 to
- contribute to the achievement of an innovative, flexible, responsive, able, ethical and accountable ACT Public Service
- Identify strategic human resource issues that have whole of government implications
- Contribute to the development and implementation of whole of government human resources and attraction and retention strategies
- Identify best practice in human resource planning and management and support and facilitate its implementation throughout the ACTPS
All ACTPS agencies are represented on the Council. Members currently meet monthly.
The roles and accountabilities of the Council are to:
- Provide advice and recommendations to Management Council on whole of government human resource and attraction and retention issues. The HR Council will effectively operate as a sub-committee of Management Council on issues relating to whole of government human resource planning and management issues
- In consultation with Management Council, undertake or direct specific projects to achieve improved sector wide human resource management
- Advise and assist agency Chief Executives in the implementation of whole government human resource planning and management initiatives
- Ensure that individual agency activities take proper account of whole government interests and initiatives
- Provide advice and recommendations to the Commissioner for Public Administration to support the Commissioner’s functions
- Provide advice on strategic human resource issues prior to consideration by ACTPS Joint Council standing committee (the peak union consultative forum for the ACT Public Service).
Other responsibilities
The Commissioner has a number of other responsibiiltes including
- coordinating strategic public service training initiatives
- approving the reappointment or re-engagement of former officers, within prescribed timeframes, who retired from the ACTPS as excess officers
- approving payments to officers and employees other than in the way of normal salary, allowances or expenses
- issuing ACT Public Service salary packaging guidelines
- conducting investigations and inquiries into the operation of Government agencies at the request of the Chief Minister.
- Delegations
Commissioner's Delegations
To foster the efficient operation of the ACTPS, the Commissioner has delegated to agencies a number of her powers under the PSM Act and Standards.
Schedule One, Part A of the document linked below lists the Commissioner's powers currently delegated, and Schedule One, Part B lists positions currently holding the delegated power.
- Commissioner's Delegations [ PDF 1675KB ]
Statistical information about the ACT Public Service
The Commissioner conducts annual surveys to develop a staffing profile of the ACTPS. Previous year's findings can be found in the documents linked below.
- 2007-2008 ACTPS Workforce Profile [ PDF 542KB ] [
WORD 1.7MB] - 2006-2007 ACTPS Workforce Profile [ PDF 394KB ] [ WORD 1.1MB]
Commissioner's Annual Reports
- 2005-06 [ PDF 283KB ]
- 2006-07 [ PDF 222KB ]
- 2007-08 [ PDF 398KB ]
- 2008-09 [ PDF 1290KB]