Page 1449 - Week 05 - Thursday, 12 May 1994
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The second authority is the Australian International Hotel School which was established under the Canberra Institute of Technology (Amendment) Act 1994 passed by the Assembly last month. While many of the staff at the hotel school will be members of the new ACT Government Service, the law as it currently stands allows the hotel school to employ people outside the public service as well. The Government believes, in principle, that these staff should become members of the new service under equivalent provisions, but wishes to assess in more detail the implications of that move, particularly for the school's partnership with Cornell University in the United States of America. For these reasons, amendments relating to the hotel school have not been brought forward at this time.
The Bill puts in place transitional arrangements that provide a mechanism for the transfer of existing Australian Public Service and Territory staff to the new Government Service. A number of these clauses give effect to the Government's commitment that the terms and conditions of existing staff will not be reduced. In line with this commitment, government officers will be appointed to offices in the new service corresponding with their former offices, and existing employment contracts will be carried over into the new service.
The establishment of the Territory as the single employing authority will result in almost all Territory employees being employed under the same terms and conditions framework. Administratively this will lead to a more efficient and accountable government service and future reform will be much easier to achieve. In fact, Mr Deputy Speaker, it has been reported to me that we are the envy of other public services for achieving this single employer framework.
I would like now to outline some of the major provisions associated with the Public Sector Management (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill. The early provisions of the Bill focus on the transfer of various officers and employees into the new service. This not only includes those previously employed by the Australian Public Service but other Territory employees as well. Members of the Teaching Service and staff of the Australian Capital Territory Electricity and Water Authority are examples. Part II of the Bill also includes specific provisions to transfer existing administrative heads, who are currently employed under fixed term contract, to the new service. These provisions will ensure that the people in these offices at the start of the new service can continue their service under the provisions of the Public Sector Management Bill. Part III of the Bill deals with the 89 pieces of legislation that require amendment as a consequence of the establishment of the new service. A number of Acts require amendments to the provisions under which staff were previously employed, while some minor amendments relate to titles and terminology.
While not a matter specifically dealt with by this Bill, I believe that this is the right time to say something about the protection of the privacy of information held by agencies. The Commonwealth's Privacy Act 1988 has provided a range of protections in relation to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of information since self-government.
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