Page 3927 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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Let me be very clear at the outset of my remarks that as Chief Minister I will not tolerate bullying in the ACT public service and nor will the members of the cabinet. We expect, and the community expects, officials in the ACTPS to work cooperatively, collaboratively and to support each other as they go about their daily work. The cabinet expects the directors-general and the executive cohort to provide a positive example of behaviour to the whole of the service. We expect public servants at every level to behave decently, fairly and supportively towards their colleagues.
We expect instances of bullying to be dealt with early and strongly. We expect colleagues who experience bullying to be supported and nurtured and we expect examples of unacceptable behaviour to be reported, examined and dealt with appropriately and promptly.
Mr Assistant Speaker, the people of Canberra and the government of the day depend on the ACT public service for the delivery of services that are critical to the successful functioning of our city and in some cases are genuinely matters of life and death. As part of ensuring the ACTPS can continue to deliver these services, the government believes that it is vital to offer and encourage a working environment that is conducive to high achievement and focused on results. But that is not at all costs, and certainly not at the expense of the people who make it possible.
There is nothing more integral to the success of our priorities and programs than the people charged with delivering those results, and those people are the public servants. It is crucial that our public servants feel supported and appreciated so that they can go about this important task. This is particularly the case in tough budget times such as now when the huge workload is expected to be achieved on scarce resources in the face of high public demand and scrutiny.
There has been a fair bit of media recently about instances where the ACT public service has not got it right, where errors have been made and employees have not felt appreciated, let alone valued. There have been examples of cases where complaints of bullying have been made. There have been examples of where complaints made have not been dealt with properly. Those cases will and are being looked at again by senior officials in the ACT public service.
Every time this happens is one incident too many in the eyes of the government. Each of our public servants deserves to be recognised, supported, developed and respected as an individual. So when employees are mismanaged, and they do not and cannot achieve their full potential, it is a disappointment to the service and a loss to the community it serves.
That said, it is important to keep things in perspective as well. The ACT public servant workforce is around 18,000 strong. Even with the best training and systems and the most well-intentioned management, it is unrealistic not to expect bad behaviour to occur from time to time. That is not to excuse the bullies, nor is it to diminish our commitment and desire to eradicate bullying.
It is simply a reflection of the reality of a large group of human beings and how we all behave towards each other. The government recognises that there is room for
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