In Australia, there is a large public service. In fact, the public service makes up over 20% of the economy in Australia. Over time, some principles have developed regarding the behaviour of public services which have been formalised in the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct. This set of guidelines sets out how public servants are supposed to behave in accordance with public policy and in their interactions with members of the public.

There are are number of general principles which the public service code sets out. The first of these principles are the employees of the Australian government are to behave honestly and with integrity in the course of their employment. They are also supposed to act with care and diligence when performing their jobs. The Australian public service worker is also expected by the public to treat everyone with respect and courtesy and without harassment. There is a formalised expectation that an employee working for the Australian government will comply with all of the applicable Australian laws regarding the performance of their work and with any lawful and reasonable direction by a Minister of a Minister's member of staff. This is an expression of the Westminster system of government in use in Australia. There are some other obligations such as the duty to disclose and take reasonable steps to avoid a conflict of interest which is either real or apparent in connection with their employment. Australian public servants are also required to use commonwealth resources in a proper manner and to avoid providing false or misleading information in response to a request for information that is made for official purposes in connection with their employment.

A commonwealth worker in Australia is also not supposed to make improper use of inside information obtained through their work or to take advantage of their duties, status, power or authority to gain a benefit or advantage for themselves or another person. Employees of the Australian government are also obligated to uphold the values of the Australian Public Service and the integrity and good reputation of the Australian Public Service. In fact, when they are overseas they are also expected to behave in a way which enhances the reputation of Australia. There are also additional regulations which can be written from time to time about the way that public servants and officers are supposed to behave but these are not considered part of the code of conduct for a worker in the federal government in Australia. If you are a worker in the commonwealth government or you have any interaction with commonwealth government employees in Australia it can be very useful to understand these principles because you know what you can complain about in terms of the behaviour of employees who are held to this standard.