Page 3933 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
longer have departments; we now have directorates. This is supposed to mean that we now have a structure whereby the heads of each directorate communicate more directly, rather than through ministers, creating a somewhat flatter structure at the top end. It should help with creating a more cohesive, whole-of-government vision and better across-government coordination, which was sorely needed. There has been no shortage of problems created from departments not working together in their goals and aims.
One of the most positive outcomes of the administrative changes as a result of the Hawke review is the move away from ACT departments working in silos. Changing the culture of cross-agency communication to get the whole of the government working towards combined aims and goals and in cooperation will require more than just restructuring and will not happen overnight, but I hope that the current heads of each agency are committed to this new way of working. The more that we encourage inter-directorate committees to ensure smooth and cohesive applications of policies and programs the better for the people of Canberra. The number of complaints our offices receive which are based on one directorate telling someone one thing and another giving conflicting or inconsistent advice is indicative of the level of the problem.
One issue connected with this that I would like to touch on is that it appears the government is relying quite heavily on a single office building to achieve this goal. I think it is quite possible to get a range of agencies to work together more cooperatively without necessarily having to put them all in the same building. We discussed this in more detail yesterday. I believe that accommodating our public servants in an ACT government office precinct may well deliver the same cooperative benefits as the single building proposal.
Turning to a couple of specific issues, because I think it is important that they are addressed, there can be no doubt of the parliament’s and the community’s expectations in this regard. I am confident that there has and will continue to be progress on these issues. They are, firstly, the culture towards complaints. The Ombudsman has raised concerns about this recently, and I must acknowledge the government’s support for my motion recently that called on the government to address this issue and ensure that agencies value complaints consistent with the Ombudsman’s better practice guidelines. I hope that this will occur quickly and all agencies will develop a consistent and positive approach to complaints and recognise, of course, that the outcome of responding actively to complaints is, of course, fewer complaints in the future.
The next issue I would like to address is freedom of information. I have been frustrated with the government’s application of the FOI Act. In a number of instances, I do not think the government has been correctly applying the provisions of the act and there has existed a bias towards non-disclosure. The Attorney-General, just within the last half hour or so, tabled the government’s response to the committee report. The Chief Minister has made a number of commitments to improve in this regard. I note that the government’s response which was tabled just before to the JACS committee report’s recommendation is largely positive and certainly reflects a significant improvement on the status quo.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video