As discussed in more detail in later chapters, there has been a shift in the balance of responsibilities particularly as a result of the public sector reforms during the 1980s and 1990s. These increased the management responsibilities of secretaries, both in running their departments and overseeing their portfolios, and tended to reduce the time they could personally devote to policy development and review.

The expectation of greater responsiveness to ministers, and of helping them manage the pressures they face from the 24/7 media cycle, has also made it more difficult to devote personal time and departmental resources to longer-term policy research and analysis.

Nonetheless, heads of Commonwealth departments are still expected to contribute more personally to policy development than those heading state departments.

The pressures of the past 20 years might also have caused some convergence of styles and possibly some increased emphasis on generalist skills among secretaries. This has been offset in part, however, by greater mobility in and out of the Public Service, including at more senior levels. The mobility is still modest and most external appointments are of people well experienced in the public sector, albeit more nowadays have state government backgrounds. While there has been movement from the top level of the Public Service to academia, the private sector and the community sector, there has been little if any real movement in the other direction.

Any convergence of styles has also been offset by modest improvements in gender diversity. Williams is no longer the only female departmental secretary, particularly since the appointment of three women in 2004 along with Lynelle Briggs as Public Service Commissioner. I well remember the coasters Sue Vardon (CEO of Centrelink, 1997–2004) gave me for my office in the APS Commission calling for ‘five in five’ (five female departmental secretaries within the next five years); she was one of many pleased to see the shift occur so quickly. That shift will almost certainly continue, as female representation in the APS is steadily moving up the hierarchy.