{"id":"F2020L00326","name":"Prime Minister’s direction under subsection 21(1) – 2020 (No. 1)","slug":"prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":100879,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2020L00326-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Prime Minister’s direction under subsection 21(1) – 2020 (No. 1)","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nPublic Service Act 1999\n\nPrime Minister’s direction under subsection 21(1) – 2020 (No. 1)\n\nDirection under subsection 21(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 – COVID 19 – movement of APS employees to functions critical to the continued delivery of services to the Australian public\n\nI, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, issue the following direction to Agency Heads in relation to the management of APS employees.\n\n1.  The object of this direction is to facilitate the most efficient and effective deployment of APS employees and expertise to meet the exceptional challenge posed by COVID 19 to Australian society – a task which has become the principal focus of APS endeavour.\n2.  Each Agency Head is required to identify, as a matter of urgency, those functions performed in the agency that, taking into account the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic, are currently critical to:\n\n(a) the continued delivery of services to the Australian public; or\n\n(b) the operation of the APS as a whole.\n\n3. Each Agency Head is also required to identify those employees in their agency whose duties do not involve the performance of those functions referred to in either 2(a) or 2(b), and who are capable of undertaking work, as an employee of the agency:\n\n(a) on a temporary basis for other APS agencies that are critical to the continued delivery of services to the Australian public, or are critical to the operation of the APS as a whole; or\n\n(b) on a temporary basis to assist State or Territory government agencies to address the consequences of COVID 19, including to assist them to maintain the continued delivery of services to the Australian public; or\n\n(c) on a temporary basis to assist community organisations to address the consequences of COVID 19, including to assist a community organisation to maintain the continued delivery of services to the Australian public.\n\n4. Each Agency Head is to provide the details of the functions referred to in paragraph 2 (where relevant), and the groups of employees in paragraph 3, to the Australian Public Service Commissioner as soon as it is completed, but no later than 30 March 2020.\n\n5. The Commissioner will then notify relevant Agency Heads as to which employees or groups of employees in the agency are to undertake work elsewhere, as described in paragraph 3(a).\n\n6. Each Agency Head is then required to exercise all powers available to him or her to make available its employees to undertake work in the APS agency specified by the Commissioner, and to do so as quickly as possible.\n\n7. More generally, each Agency Head is required to cooperate with any requests or directions made by the Commissioner in relation to the provision of services by APS employees to sectors of critical need. As described in paragraphs 3(b) and (c) above, those areas of critical need may be in State or Territory government sectors, or in community organisations.\n\n8. The Commissioner will issue further guidance for Agency Heads about the application of this direction.\n\n9. This direction commences on the date on which is it made.\n\nSigned:\n\nSCOTT MORRISON  \nPRIME MINISTER\n\n26 MARCH 2020","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The direction temporarily broadens the deployment scope of APS employees by empowering central allocation of staff to other APS agencies and to State/Territory and community organisations, and by imposing urgent reporting and mandatory availability obligations on Agency Heads (paras 2–7)."},"complexity_factors":["Broad redeployment scope: staff may be moved across APS agencies, to State/Territory agencies, or to community organisations (para 3).","Centralised selection: the Commissioner, not individual Agency Heads, notifies which employees must undertake work elsewhere (para 5), concentrating decision authority.","Urgency and deadline: Agency Heads must report identified functions and staff to the Commissioner by a tight date (30 March 2020) (para 4), raising implementation pressure.","Mandatory use of available powers: Agency Heads are required to use all powers to make staff available quickly (para 6), which can create operational and legal interpretation questions.","Ambiguous suitability standard: instrument requires identifying employees “capable of undertaking work” elsewhere without detailing assessment criteria (para 3).","Compliance and coordination burden: cooperation with Commissioner requests and cross‑jurisdictional moves (paras 6–7) create administrative and logistical workload.","No industrial/entitlements detail: the direction omits specifics on employment terms, remuneration, or dispute resolution, leaving gaps for operational negotiation (general absence across instrument)."],"plain_english_summary":"This direction orders Australian Public Service (APS) Agency Heads to quickly identify which agency functions and staff are critical to maintaining public services during COVID‑19, and which staff can be temporarily redeployed. The Australian Public Service Commissioner will decide which employees should work elsewhere (other APS agencies, state or territory bodies, or community organisations) and Agency Heads must make them available and cooperate, with initial reporting required by 30 March 2020."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This direction matches its original intent precisely. It was issued as an emergency pandemic response instrument under section 21(1) of the Public Service Act 1999, which specifically allows the Prime Minister to give directions about the management of APS employees. The scope remains tightly confined to temporary workforce redeployment during COVID-19 and does not expand into unrelated policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document — only 9 operative paragraphs plus preamble","No defined terms section — uses plain language like 'Agency Head' and 'Commissioner' without technical definitions","Minimal cross-referencing — only refers to subsection 21(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 as its enabling power","Simple conditional structure — straightforward 'if-then' obligations without nested exceptions","Single purpose instrument — focused entirely on one emergency response mechanism without ancillary provisions","No penalty clauses, review mechanisms, or sunset provisions included in the text"],"plain_english_summary":"This emergency order required Australian Public Service department heads to identify critical roles and temporarily reassign non‑critical staff to other federal departments, state/territory agencies, or community organisations so essential services kept running during COVID‑19. It empowered the Australian Public Service Commissioner to coordinate those redeployments.\n\nIt mattered because it created a rapid, centralized mobilisation of public servants—redirecting staff (for example, Centrelink or ATO workers) to where urgent help was needed."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1","history":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1/history","analysis":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/prime-minister-s-direction-under-subsection-21-1-2020-no-1/documents"}}