Page 4150 - Week 13 - Thursday, 14 December 2006
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government’s submission to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts are implemented as a matter of urgency”.
The committee acknowledges the views presented and the conclusions made in the audit report. It believes that it made a number of important findings and suggestions in relation to leave management in the ACT public service. The committee’s report examines a selection of the significant issues, including the key findings and recommendations raised by the Auditor-General in relation to whether leave management practices implemented in ACT government entities are compliant with certified agreements, legislation and government and agency policy.
The committee’s report makes five recommendations covering various aspects of the leave management process in the ACT public service. I will read them briefly because I know members sometimes struggle to wade their way through all of these reports. The first recommendation was as follows:
The Committee recommends that ACT Government Agencies should identify reasons for excessive leave accrual and, where appropriate, develop clearance strategies designed to suit their workforces.
Interestingly, that is a matter the minister for tourism has raised in this place as an issue that is impacting on people’s capacity to enjoy the tourist facilities. The second recommendation was:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Commissioner for Public Administration’s State of the Service Report should report on the aggregate cost of unscheduled absence in the ACT Public Service.
Notwithstanding changes in that reporting arrangement that were identified in annual reports, it is an important issue to measure the aggregate cost of these absences. Recommendation 3 states:
The Committee recommends that the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004 and the Chief Minister’s Annual Report Directions be revised to require ACT Government agencies to include in their annual reports details of the number or percentage of working days lost each year to sickness or other types of unscheduled absence or to disclose the aggregate cost of unscheduled absence in their financial statements.
Recommendation 4 states:
The Committee recommends, to the extent that work is not already taking place, that a central ACT Government agency be tasked with monitoring and analysing changes in leave liabilities and patterns on an agency-wide basis so that a complete ACT Public Service picture can be formed.
Recommendation 5 states:
The Committee recommends that the Legislative Assembly for the ACT notes the findings and recommendations of Auditor-General’s Performance Audit Report No 5 of 2004: Leave Management.
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