Page 2213 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
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does not go far enough. That is why the 2022 review process is very important. Indeed, the government’s amendments, which came out of the briefing I took some weeks ago, already serve to improve this process.
In the interim, I hope that this bill, and the amendments to come in the detail stage, will help to iron out at least some of the creases in the system and that there will be better protection for people in the future.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (11.37), in reply: I thank members for their comments on the bill. The bill is the result of an independent review of the act and responds to the report’s 35 recommendations, all of which have been accepted.
As I outlined in my presentation speech, the bill reduces the complexity of the current whistleblowing arrangements, increases protections for those making disclosures and extends those protections to witnesses. It clarifies the role of the ACT Integrity Commission and the Integrity Commissioner.
In the detail stage I will be moving several government amendments that go to the interaction of this bill and the public interest disclosure scheme generally with the Legislative Assembly. I will speak to those amendments now, in the interests of time.
The government recognises the unique position of the Assembly within the public sector. We are committed to ensuring that the Assembly and officers created by continuing resolutions retain their independence from the executive. At the same time, however, there must be consistency and coherence in the integrity regime across the public sector, including the Legislative Assembly.
The amendments that I will move in the detail stage clarify the arrangements for referrals of public interest disclosures where a PID has been made to the Integrity Commissioner, removing the potential for the commissioner to refer a public interest disclosure relating to a member of the Legislative Assembly and/or their staff to another entity within the ACT public sector for investigation. The effect of these amendments is that the Integrity Commissioner remains the only entity able to investigate such public interest disclosures.
Further government amendments will also introduce the requirement for guidelines to be developed for the way members of the Assembly are to deal with disclosures of disclosable conduct made under section 27 of the act and consequential amendments.
This bill delivers important improvements to our territory’s integrity framework, including a triage approach to receiving disclosures, consistent assessment by skilled officers and whole-of-system data collection. This will enable our public interest disclosure framework to be more reactive through systemic and thorough responses and more proactive through improved whole-of-system analysis and identification of risk.
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