From rhetoric to blueprint: The Moran Review as a concerted, comprehensive and emergent strategy for public service reform

Abstract

On 3 September 2009, Prime Minister Rudd announced a six-month Review of Australian Government Administration. He appointed an Advisory Group chaired by Terry Moran, Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to prepare a discussion paper, oversee a benchmarking study and consultations, and craft a blueprint to reform the Australian Public Service (APS) in order to deal with future governance challenges. The vision is to develop a forward-looking, innovative, collaborative, citizen-focused, agile, informed and highly-skilled APS to advise and deliver policy and services for government. Ahead of the Game, a comprehensive Blueprint for action, was released on 29 March 2010. This article provides a high-level review of motivations and process for theMoran Review, an overview of the Blueprint, an assessment of the strategy and process, and suggestions for moving forward on selected issues. Show more