APS commissioner Peter Woolcott says David Thodey review changes to be rapidly implemented

Australian Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott said the appointment of Public Sector Reform secretary Gordon de Brouwer was "striking", and meant the government now had "Thodey on steroids".

The former diplomat said he felt privileged to have been involved in the review - both in setting it up as a political staffer and overseeing its partial implementation in his commissioner role - in his valedictory speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday morning.

"Public sector reform is a never ending journey - which always has to be grounded in pragmatism. And the big set pieces like the Coombs Royal Commission, and the Thodey review take time to take hold. But they do," he told the Institute of Public Administration Australia audience, which included a number of agency heads.

"You don't always get the privilege to help reap what you helped sow."

The report by Mr Thodey, a former chief executive for Telstra, was publicly released in December 2019, offering 40 recommendations to reform the public service's aging approach.

Its recommendations centred around developing a more interconnected, people-facing public service and urged the removal of the staffing level cap, to make more consistent pay scales and conditions and a move away from labour hire reliance.

Mr Woolcott, who has spent 40 years across jobs in the public service, said former Prime Minister and Cabinet secretaries Martin Parkinson and Phil Gaetjens had helped enable key reforms to get underway.

But it was current secretary Glyn Davis and Dr de Brouwer who would now drive home changes.

"Glyn [Davis], now of course, occupies a pivotal position in driving the government's ambitious reform agenda," he told the audience.

"The symbolism of his appointment, along with that of Gordon de Brouwer, by the Albanese government, is striking and we essentially now have Thodey on steroids.

"I see my role as essentially akin to a marathon runner in a continuous relay. I now pass on the baton to my successor. I hope I have done my bit in advancing the agenda.

"I believe we have a very clear sense of direction, but we are running over shifting ground."

Mr Woolcott, who was a chief-of-staff to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull until his appointment as commissioner, also said the public service needed courage to tell ministers when they're wrong.

However, he had not seen many examples of APS heads failing to do this during his time.

"It is a crucial part of the environment that good public service leaders need to create," Mr Woolcott said.

"That said, contrary to what critics say, my general experience is that it's not often APS leaders shy away from that responsibility.

"I say this from seeing both sides of the fence, as a prime minister's chief of staff and in my dealings with agency head colleagues. It is, however, about doing so using street smarts, influence and about offering appropriate alternatives."

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Workforce diversity would also need additional consideration in a reformed APS, Mr Woolcott said.

The public service commission announced earlier this year the next APS employee census will ask staff to identify their cultural background, in an effort to gain better data about cultural and linguistic diversity in the public service.

The federal government has also pledged to lift the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the APS to 5 per cent of the workforce by 2030, as part of its reforms.

Mr Woolcott said while strategies were fine, it came down to the implementation of them.

"We have made giant steps with women in leadership positions. If we bring the same drive and commitment from the top we will succeed with the other groups," he said.

"The biggest mistake we can make is not recruiting people because they are not like us, or rejecting people if we bring them in because they haven't become like us."