Page 1743 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 May 1990
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"Now I take i t to be torte olai.^. z= z wren a minis tar is entrusted with acmin:.s t=a tee, as d--;st4nc-= from legislative, functions he is entitled to act by any authorised official of his debar -^ent. The minister =s not bound to give his mind to the matter personally. That is implicit in the modern machine=v of government."
This principle was confined by .the High Court in 0Reil y v. State Bank of Victoria commissioners ((1982) 153 CLR 1).
Indeed this principle has been given statutory force by s.54 of the Self-Government Act and the provisions of tae Public Service Act 1989 of the Territory. S.54 establishes a public service for the conduct of the public administration of the ACT. The Chief Minister is required to divide the public se=-vice into administrative units. S.6 of the Public Service Act allows the Chief Minister to allocate to each administrative unit responsibility for all or any of the enactments and matters for which the relevant Minister is responsible. Thus, public servants are able to exercise executive power within the confines of their Minister-s allocation of Executive responsibil_ty.
- It could be argued that this principle could be extended beyond public servants relying en the law of agency i.e. a Minister could choose persons other than public servants as agents to act on his or her behalf. However, the cases have not vet gone this far and the specific statutory provisions noted above militate against this view.
Mj.nister:Lal.Respon,s:Lb!JLity for Public Administration
Public service administrative units are controlled by the Head of Administration or an Associate Head. of Administration (s.54 of Self-Government Act). Administrative units are the basic units for administrative purposes under a number of Acts, and are the basic units for financial management under the Audit Act 1989 of the Territory.
The Head of Administration and Associate Heads of Administration are made responsible "under the appror,=iate Minister" (as. 50 and 51 of the Self-Government Act) for the administrative units under their control. The Head or Associate Heads of Administration are thus responsible directly to a Minister. Therefore only a member who is a Minister can be accountable to the Assembly for the operation of an administrative unit. It is by this manner that ministers have political and legal responsibility for the public administration of the Territory.
Delegation of Ministerial Powers ,.
Section 5 of .the Administration Act T989 .-of -the
. Territory states: "A Minister ... may, by instrument, delegate to any person all or any of his powers under an-Act,or subordinate
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