Andrew Metcalfe retires on Friday as Agriculture Department secretary. Photo: File.
Formal training and learning from past mistakes are both essential for public servants who want to take on leadership roles and avoid tragic administrative failures, says one of the APS’s most prominent figures.
Andrew Metcalfe retires on Friday (4 August), leaving the public service after more than 40 years.
Over his distinguished career, Mr Metcalfe has led three federal departments and retires today as the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry secretary.
The highly regarded leader presented a valedictory address this week at an Institute of Public Administration Australia event.
He outlined the highlights of an eventful career since joining the public service in 1980, including his sacking in 2013 by the newly elected prime minister Tony Abbott that thrust him into a six-year stint in the private sector.
And after expressing love for his family – and for the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Eagles and even the schmaltzy 70s band Bread – the retiring secretary offered some sage advice for aspiring public sector leaders.
“I believe that we need to invest much more in preparing our future leaders for their many responsibilities, and ensuring that as part of that, they benefit from the accumulated wisdom of those who have gone before, and that they are schooled in the successes and the mistakes of the past,” he said.
Mr Metcalfe said reform was needed in the APS in order for public administration to be less “fragmented” and “desultory” and to not be so over-dependent on budget allocations.
“I believe public servants need better formal preparation and training for the responsibilities of senior leadership,” he said.
“As they advance towards the SES (senior executive service), compulsory and formal training is essential.”
Mr Metcalfe urged the APS to focus on case studies of what has worked in the past and what has failed.
While there have been some terrible examples of how the public service has failed Australians, the secretary said his experience was that overwhelmingly public servants strive to do the right thing.
“The Australian Public Service plays a critical role in our society, in our economy, in the defence and protection of our country, and in the lives of each and every one of us,” he said.
“Public servants administer programs, some of which are small and targeted, and many of which are of wide application, involving millions of people and the expenditure of billions of dollars.
“We regulate major areas of the economy, and many aspects of people’s lives and livelihoods.
“We provide advice and support to ministers. Our scores of departments and agencies employ many tens of thousands of people.
“We need the best possible leadership. The Australian government and our community expect no less and they deserve no less.”
He also made a powerful comment about the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“I will not repeat all the words here, but I do want to just read the final sentence,” he said.
“‘We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future’.
“As an Australian who loves this country, and is proud of my family’s almost two centuries here, but one who grew up largely ignorant about the culture and civilisation and sovereignty over millennia of the First Australians who lived on this land, can I simply say how extraordinary that statement is.
“The extraordinary offer to walk together for a better future.
“There is still much for us all to do to make that happen, for it to become a reality.”
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