One of the strongest traditions of the Australian Public Service — one of the world’s finest civil services — is confidentiality. The APS rarely leaks — that is reserved for ministers and their offices. Godwin Grech was extraordinarily atypical in his partisan and misleading behaviour. Public servants, particularly those who work closely with ministers in Canberra, take seriously their role of providing advice to governments while maintaining a low profile.

Journalist James Button, who joined the public service in late 2008 to write speeches for Kevin Rudd, has written a book on his experiences within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Those looking for a tell-all on the foibles and flaws of Rudd, or a searing indictment of the bureaucracy, will be disappointed. Button focuses on how the public service functions, how it communicates internally and externally, how it thinks as it watches the political end of the policy process in Parliament. And he does so because he believes the APS is a crucial part of public life and needs to be better understood

Nonetheless, Button has breached a wall, one that many within the APS will feel should have remained intact.

It comes at a time when confidentiality is under greater pressure than ever in Canberra, and elsewhere. In days of yore, the primary mechanism for public servants to air their views was the letters page of The Canberra Times. Now social media and blogs provide easily-accessible platforms for bureaucrats to discuss public issues, with as much or as little anonymity as they desire, on a real-time basis. Many choose to do so. Some pay a price. The APS culture of confidentiality is, thus, under threat.

Whether that is necessarily a problem for anyone beyond the politicians the APS serves is an issue worth debating. Button argues there is much to be gained from senior public servants discussing their careers, and from key APS leaders copying the example of Ken Henry and playing a greater role in public debate.

This takes us into the less tangible issue of the extent to which the APS, which is designed (appropriately) to serve the government of the day, can also serve the public interest as well. There are no clear answers, but there are many questions to consider.