Top public servant urges ‘more doing, less reviewing' after 70 inquiries in Labor's first term, FoI papers reveal
One of the nation's most respected public service chiefs has told Labor to stop commissioning so many government reviews, warning the costly and time-consuming inquiries risk swamping bureaucrats and unduly heightening public expectations.
The secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Blair Comley, has urged the health minister, Mark Butler, to allow public servants to adopt a more implementation and less analysis mindset in the coming term of parliament, after more than 70 reviews were commissioned, consulted-on or published in Labor's first three years in office.
In advice included in a brief to the re-elected Albanese government, Comley said official reviews could cost more than $25m each, absorbing significant departmental resources and adding to 'an already crowded agenda'.
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'We have a stock of completed reviews that have consulted widely and include significant recommendations,' Comley said in documents released to Guardian Australia under freedom of information rules.
'I would suggest that 'Even more doing, less reviewing' would be a good mindset for this term.
'With each review, stakeholder expectations continue to rise. There is an expectation that government will adopt all recommendations of these reviews.'
He pointed to the government's health technology assessment review, which included 50 recommendations for reform alone, many with significant implementation costs. Other major reviews included the Medicare review, the private hospitals financial health check and the review of the national disability insurance scheme.
Similar incoming ministerial briefs are prepared by department and agency bosses across the public service after an election.
The Albanese government appointed Comley to lead the health department in 2023. Tony Abbott sacked him as the climate change department boss a decade earlier.
A highly respected policy mind, he has also worked as a consultant and lead the New South Wales premier's department. Comley was speculated as a possible candidate to head Anthony Albanese's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, after the departure of Glyn Davis after the 3 May election. That job went to the Treasury boss Steven Kennedy.
In his advice to Butler, Comley said delivering on findings of more government reviews might have to be drawn from spending on Labor's election commitments, including Medicare reform, cheaper medicine prices, addressing workforce challenges and improvement in mental health care and Indigenous health.
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The challenges come amid a tight fiscal environment, and health spending remains one of the key pressures on the federal budget. Comley said the department was delivering fiscal discipline and cost minimisation, and was preparing for a 6% to 10% decrease in internal resourcing from the government from 1 July, with further decreases expected in 2026-27.
Significant productivity growth is being achieved through efficient service delivery, according to the advice, including in the treatment of cancers. But fewer gains have been achieved in improving the quality of life for patients.
'The work of the first term gives a strong foundation of robust information, a strong mandate for reform, and the time has come to deliver on priority commitments,' Comley said.
'There will be reviews that make sense where there is a compelling case due to one or more of the three motivations, but the bar should be set high.'
The department's incoming government brief was handed to Butler on 13 May. His office declined to comment on Sunday.
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