Briggs review leads to shakeup of public sector board appointments

The Government has released the 2023 Briggs review of public sector board roles and committed to a new framework that will see greater transparency around appointments. The review was critical of current board appointment processes and made extensive recommendations.

Review findings

The report by former head of the Australian Public Service Commission, Lynelle Briggs AO, entitled 'No Favourites' was critical of the appointment process for government boards to date. In preparing the report, Briggs looked at 200 government board appointments under both Labor and Coalition-led governments.

The review report found that:

• There are no clearly defined rules or processes around board appointments.
• There is little transparency about how appointment decisions are made.
• Six to seven per cent of all board appointments can be automatically described as “political”.
• The public is unable to differentiate between political and direct appointments and there is the perception that all direct ministerial appointments are political.

The report concluded that there are not enough checks and balances in the current appointments system to enable ministers to balance their ministerial autonomy to make appointments directly, with their accountability obligations. The report also found that the practice has been to appoint ‘friends of the Government’ to boards, either as a reward for past loyalty or to ensure alignment with government priorities.  This has led to a perception that the appointments are forms of ‘patronage and nepotism’, as opposed to appointments based on professional qualifications and a willingness to work for the good of the country.

The report proposed a 10-step appointment process, with public advertising of positions and a full selection panel system. It recommended that no direct ministerial appointments be made in the six months before an election is due, and politicians and staffers should be barred from being given jobs six months after they left political employment, or 18 months for ministerial portfolios.  The report also recommended that the process be enshrined in legislation as the best way to make the integrity reform permanent and binding on the Government of the day.

The report concluded that current board appointment arrangements:

• are not fit for purpose;
• do not ensure a broad, relevant and diverse skill set for boards; and
• do not provide ministers with the support that they need to find the best candidates and make appointment decisions.

Government response – new framework for appointments

The Government has accepted some of the key recommendations of the review and is adopting a new principles based framework for public sector appointments that can be viewed here. However, it stops short of enshrining new processes in legislation and does not adopt some of the more controversial recommendations such as a cooling off period for staffers, politicians and ministers.

The framework recognises that responsibility for appointments rests with ministers – and that ministers are accountable to the Cabinet, the Parliament and the Australian people for their decisions and actions.

With some exceptions, the framework will apply to all appointments to Commonwealth public offices, including secretaries, other agency heads, statutory office holders and appointments to Government boards.

Those exceptions include appointments made by departments and agencies, including advisory boards that do not report directly to a minister; diplomatic appointments; and appointments to Commonwealth courts and tribunals.

The framework is intended to provide much more guidance and advice on the recruitment process, enabling ministers to tailor selection processes to the unique requirements of each role.

Where a minister is responsible for an appointment to a relevant appointment, ‘they should seek to apply the Framework so far as it is applicable’.

The framework is intended to provide much more guidance and advice on the recruitment process, enabling ministers to tailor selection processes to the unique requirements of each role.

Where a minister is responsible for an appointment to a relevant appointment, ‘they should seek to apply the Framework so far as it is applicable’.

The framework will come into place on 2 February 2026.  From that date the following principles will apply to appointments: 

• Ministers must always seek to make the best possible appointments on the basis of merit, and in the interests of good government and delivering positive outcomes for theAustralian community.
• Ministers must be transparent about appointments within their portfolios.
• Ministers will be required to consider diversity, in order to ensure that public positions "reflect the breadth of the Australian community".
• Ministers must seek advice from their departments when determining and implementing selection processes but will have flexibility to implement selection processes based on what they consider is best for sourcing candidates.
• When appropriate, ministers should use independent assessment panels to identify suitable candidates for appointments.
• Ministers should seek to continuously strengthen the performance of boards and public bodies.

Certain governance arrangements have also been put inplace under the Framework. Some key requirements include:

• Ministers must ensure that selection criteria are in place before any appointment process commences. Selection criteria must address the experience, skills and qualifications and qualities required of someone filling the relevant public office.
• In the case of board appointments, ministers must ensure that there is a board skills matrix in place so that the board collectively has an appropriate mix of relevant experience, skills and qualities.
• Government board appointments should generally be for a standard term of four years, with the option to appoint for a second four-year term as necessary.  However, there is flexibility in the framework which recognises that there may be instances where shorter – or longer – appointment terms are necessary or appropriate.
• The maximum number of Australian Government board positions held by any single person will generally be two. An exception is given for specialist or significant and eminently talented people, where agreed by the Prime Minister or consistent with the enabling legislation of the board.

These are notable improvements on previous arrangements and respond to a number of the recommendations contained in the AICD’s submission to the review, including recommendations around the use of skills matrices and selection criteria and Ministers being more transparent about appointments.

At the time of writing, a detailed Government response to the full suite of the report’s recommendations is yet to be published. It is unclear whether such a response is planned.