The federal government is launching a review of public sector board appointments to ensure they are based on merit rather than politics and "jobs for mates".
Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher will announce the review in an address to the Chifley 2023 Conference in Canberra on Sunday as part of the Albanese government's integrity agenda it took to the last election.
The review will be led by Lynelle Briggs AO, a former Australian Public Service Commissioner, CEO of Medicare and Commissioner on the Aged Care Royal Commission.
Her review will focus on clarifying the role of public sector boards and the skills and standards required, making board recruitment more transparent, how ministers are advised on the selection of board members and improving the diversity of board membership.
Ms Gallagher will say the former government's approach to political appointments "made a mockery of the process and were exploited for political purposes instead of being based on merit".
"We know that half of the Productivity Commission's Board members have a political connection to the Coalition and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was stacked with appointments with clear Liberal Party links," she will say.
This review would be about putting an end to the" jobs for mates culture" that defined the previous Morrison government's public sector appointments."
Ms Gallagher will say that being on a government board should be about what you know, not who you know.
A report will be published after the review is finalised in mid-2023.
