Page 2377 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2016
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all agencies. The public sector standards commissioner is an important part of this bill and it is pertinent to the discussions we have been having this week about integrity in our public sector.
The bill establishes the public sector standards commissioner, a Chief Minister’s statutory appointment, replacing the current Commissioner for Public Administration. The role for the commissioner in investigation of public sector misconduct and public interest disclosures will transfer to the newly created public sector standards commissioner. The other roles that the current Commissioner for Public Administration has will transfer to the Head of Service. The commissioner is established in this bill as independent and cannot be an ACT public servant. At the moment the Commissioner for Public Administration is a part-time role and, as a commissioner, reports directly to the Chief Minister but, as deputy director-general, reports to the Head of Service.
Although I have no specific complaints about the actions and work of those who have held the position in recent times, I think the role will be enhanced by being independent from the public service. This aligns with the position I have discussed over the past few days in this place about the need for an independent integrity commission so the public can be assured that any issues they would like to raise about government management will be independently investigated.
This bill also creates a senior executive service, which includes the Head of Service, the directors-general and executives. This is a new functionality of this legislation and clarifies that the directors-general and the executives report to the Head of Service, and of course the executives also report to their respective directors-general. The Head of Service will sign off on all executive contracts. This is an attempt to break down the silos that are so endemic in public services across the country and, no doubt, across the world.
It is very natural for organisational units to stick together, to work together and to feel defensive about their activities as a unit, but we are trying to work beyond this in the ACT government. We are trying to break down those allegiances that tie to an administrative unit first, and instead encourage a culture of allegiance to and focus on bigger whole-of-government strategic priorities.
I believe that with improved cooperation and collaboration of our senior executive service, we can increase this government’s focus on our shared vision for a better Canberra and that we can work together better to achieve the many aims and priorities that the government has in its strategies and plans for our community and our environment. This increased coordination has already commenced with the cluster arrangements that I mentioned earlier.
On another matter, the bill introduces provisions that remove an executive’s right to a particular position and instead introduces an enhanced mobility, allowing the Head of Service to ensure that the government is able to better arrange executives so that we are able to divert staffing resources to meet government’s needs in strategic areas when they arise. Any proposal to move an executive will need consultation and discussion with the person, as well as the director-general of their directorate and the Head of Service.
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