State of the Service Report 2019-2020

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www.apsc.gov.au/state-service/state-service-report-2019-20

‘This is the 23rd annual report on the state of the APS presented to Parliament.

‘This State of the Service report differs from previous years’ report as it does not contain APS employment census data. The annual APS census was delayed to prioritise APS effort towards the COVID-19 pandemic response […] the report highlights the work of the APS, its challenges and how the APS has responded.’

—Preface, State of the Service Report 2019-20: Learning through change’.

The job

Overleaf Communication was engaged by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) to prepare the State of the Service Report for 2019-2020.

I was engaged as Chief Writer to develop a necessarily different edition of this annual report due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the absence of employee census data, the APSC wished to tell the story of how the APS supported government priorities through collaboration and surge efforts.

The approach

While embedded in a small APSC project team I developed an engaging narrative to explain the governance and coordination mechanisms that supported Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Summer bushfires.

I assisted the project team to interpret workforce trend data in plain English; provided ongoing advice regarding correct grammar, punctuation, plain English and accessibility for the digital version; and interviewed staff and wrote case studies.

The output

The report comprised 3 chapters (plus front and end matter) with 33,000 words in total, and contained:

• 37 charts, infographics and tables for which I wrote, or guided the development of, alt text for the digital version
• 27 case studies for which I interviewed or researched the subject matter, or repurposed and rewrote from pre-approved copy.

In addition to the report itself, I:

• wrote the accompanying media release
• social media collateral
• the script for the APS Commissioner’s launch video
• drafted briefing notes for meetings with the press.

The result

The report was tabled in Parliament on time in November 2020.