The nation's public servants are being encouraged to "let their imaginations run wild" in coming up with a catchy slogan to attract prospective bureaucrats — but the Australian Public Service (APS) says it has taken measures to avoid a "Boaty McBoatface" incident.

Staff at all Commonwealth Government departments and agencies have until the end of the month to think about what gets them out of bed, distil it into a short phrase, and enter it into the online competition being run by the Public Service Commission.

The winning submission will replace the current rallying cry of "One APS career. Thousands of opportunities" across government advertising and social media.

Acting APS Commissioner Stephanie Foster said for better or worse, there were very few rules about what people could pitch.

"I'm sure we'll get every kind of response under the sun," she said.

"We're welcoming funny, quirky [entries] — there's not going to be a public problem with that because they're coming in to us."

"Really we just want people to let their imagination run wild."

However Ms Foster said following the Boaty McBoatface row, in which UK citizens voted to give a polar research vessel the unusual name, the APS decided to keep the final vote internal.

"We'll have a panel of judges who will go through and pick the thing that speaks most to them," Ms Foster said.

"Our employees are the ones that understand what an exciting, fulfilling place this is to work.

"What we're asking them to do is think about why is it that you get up every morning thinking 'yes, I want to work here today!'"

The prize for a successful entry? "A sense of personal accomplishment," Ms Foster said.