Page 1943 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 June 1993
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The Chief Minister may not be in a position to be hiring and firing staff, but she has the levers in her hand, as Mr Keating would say, to give direction to her department. If the 7 per cent morale rating is a reflection of direction they are being given, I would be very concerned, if I were the Chief Minister.
There are other points that need to be made. The Chief Minister said that 77 per cent rated highly the overall quality of the work done in their work area, and she stopped there. The summary goes on:
but less than 50 per cent indicated they receive sufficient recognition for good performance from their immediate supervisor or management.
Why do we not get to hear the full facts? It is not good enough to say, "But you could have read all the facts because the report has been available in the library since December". If you do not know that it is in the library, when you cannot find it you cannot read it. When you do find it, Madam Speaker - - -
Mr Lamont: Tony, you are in the Opposition; you are not part of the Government.
MR DE DOMENICO: Madam Speaker, could you please suggest to Mr Lamont that he can make his contribution later.
Mr Lamont: I am sorry. Mr Kaine, did you say that you do not think he understands that?
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Domenico has the floor.
MR DE DOMENICO: So if you have to rely on being told that the thing is in the library, God help us. Let us have a look at what else it says. There was no mention of this by the Chief Minister, and this is something Mr Berry might be interested in, and also Mr Lamont, if he listens. At the bottom of page 4, under the heading "Communication", there is the statement, "I have enough information to do my job well". To the question, "From your union", 24 per cent said yes, they agreed; 76 per cent said no, they did not agree. If I were involved in the establishment of an ACT public service - and I am told by Mr Berry that he hopes to have one centralised union situation for the ACT public service - and then I read this survey, which says that 76 per cent of the respondents in the Chief Minister's Department believe that they are not getting enough information about their job through their union, I would be concerned and I would be asking some questions.
Let us have a look at what else the survey says. Interestingly, when you do find it in the library and you get a chance to read it, it says that only 25 per cent indicated that poor staff performance is consistently resolved effectively by their immediate supervisors. We should read that as saying that 75 per cent believe that the way that poor performance has consistently been resolved is not good - not that 25 per cent believe that it is good, but that 75 per cent believe that it is not good.
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