Priority Reforms Roadmap

This work is relevant to every APS role. 

Many decisions made across the APS directly or indirectly affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Improving the way we work in partnership leads to:

• better‑designed policies and programs
• fewer unintended consequences
• stronger trust with communities
• better evidence and more sustainable outcomes

For staff, this is also about:

• working in a culturally safe, respectful workplace
• being part of a public service that earns community confidence
• strengthening our core capability as modern public servants

This is about doing our jobs better and meeting our responsibilities to the Australian community.

Transformation is not owned by one agency, team or role – it’s a shared responsibility across the APS.

Your role will look different depending on what you do: 

• Policy and program staff design and implement work that genuinely reflects First Nations priorities and lived experience.
• HR, people and culture teams play a critical role in embedding cultural safety, supporting First Nations staff, and building workforce capability.
• Managers and leaders set expectations, create safe environments for change, and ensure the Roadmap actions are treated as business‑critical.
• All APS staff contribute by learning, asking questions, challenging assumptions, and supporting respectful ways of working.

If you are unsure how the Roadmap applies to your role, your executive or responsible team can help translate it into practical action for your work area.

You don’t need to wait – there are simple, meaningful actions you can take now.

Read

• Review the Priority Reforms Roadmap on the Closing the Gap website.
• Familiarise yourself with the goals of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, particularly the four Priority Reforms.

Learn

Explore practical APS resources such as:

• First Nations Partnership Playbook
• Allyship Toolkit
• Charter of Partnerships and Engagement
• First Nations Impacts Framework
• Watch a recorded APS Academy session on engagement and partnership in First Nations communities.

These tools help build confidence and capability across teams.

Act

• Talk with your manager or executive about how the Roadmap applies to your agency.
• Start conversations in your team about how everyday work could better reflect the principles of partnership, respect and accountability.
• Encourage others to learn – transformation is more effective when it’s collective. 

Yes. The Roadmap includes case studies, produced by the Productivity Commission, that show what good practice looks like in action, including:

• Connected Beginnings
  A program built on strong partnerships with Aboriginal community‑controlled organisations, shifting from community input toward community leadership and control.
• CSIRO Indigenous Science and Engagement Program
  An approach that embeds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in research, supports First Nations pathways, and prioritises co‑designed work aligned with community aspirations.

These examples show that transformation is achievable – and already happening.

The Roadmap and the Priority Reforms Strategy are part of a two‑stage approach to transformation.

The Priority Reforms Roadmap focuses on the near term. It helps agencies assess their readiness for change, identify practical steps, and embed reform into everyday work. It sets out 13 priority actions to guide targeted change over the next few years and build consistent accountability across the APS.

The Priority Reforms Strategy builds on this foundation. It will drive longer‑term, system‑level change to ensure reforms are sustained and embedded across the APS over time. The Strategy will be developed throughout 2026.

Together, the Roadmap and the Strategy reflect a commitment to lasting transformation – recognising that meaningful change takes time, and that strong foundations are essential for long‑term success.

Senior leaders and managers are critical to success.

They:

• set the tone for respectful, culturally safe workplaces
• ensure Roadmap actions are prioritised and resourced
• support staff to work differently without fear of getting it wrong
• model accountability and openness to change.

When leaders actively champion the Roadmap, it signals that this work is core APS business — not optional or add‑on.

Yes.

The Roadmap is designed to complement and strengthen existing commitments, not replace them. Its actions align with the broader APS Reform Agenda priorities for the APS to:

• embody integrity
• put people and business at the centre of policy and services
• be a model employer
• build the capability to do its job well.

The Roadmap is intentionally flexible so agencies of all sizes and stages can apply it in a way that supports and accelerates what they are already doing.