Papua New Guinea’s Public Services Commission Since Independence: Sidelined or Strengthened?

This paper investigates reforms to the Public Services Commission (PSC) in PNG since independence. It looks at the original role of the PSC, and then the various reforms it has been subject to: in 1986, 2003 and 2013 by constitutional and legislative change; and in 2019, by court ruling. We argue that the PSC has been both sidelined and strengthened, that is, made both less and more powerful. In 1986, the PSC was stripped of the vast power it had at independence in relation to the civil service as a whole. Over time, it also lost much of the role it had played in relation to senior appointments. However, it reclaimed that latter role, in an even stronger form, starting in 2003 and retains it to this day, despite an interim period, 2013 to 2019, in which it again lost it. We explain these conflicting trajectories by reference to conflicting reform objectives. The 1986 and 2013 reforms were driven by the goal of making the civil service more flexible and responsive. The 2003 reforms were driven by the goal of protecting the civil service from corruption and political interference. Both objectives are valid, but where the right balance between them is to be found remains unclear. PSC’s role in relation to senior appointments is likely to change further in the future, but we are sceptical that this will lead to improvements in civil service performance. Rather the case of PSC reform illustrates Ron May’s argument that what PNG needs is less structural reform than a change in political behaviour.