Page 3934 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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There remain a few issues that will need further work to ensure that we have a modern freedom of information scheme that ensures the government respects the community’s right to know. In relation to public interest disclosure, the issues have been discussed at length in previous debates. The point was made that, while we very much welcome the government’s commitment to table a new public interest disclosure bill very soon, we need to ensure that in the meantime the processes under the current act work properly.
We turn to some issues that have come up recently. There were cultural issues at Bimberi. There have been cultural issues, as we know, and problems in youth justice in the past. We have just had an extensive inquiry and an extensive and comprehensive report from the Human Rights Commission. I am confident that we will see change in the culture of management in the way staff are dealt with and the way staff are supported—training and so forth. I am pretty confident that we will be moving down that path.
In the context of a discussion on a positive culture in the public service, I would make the point that the Human Rights Commission found in that report that the publicity surrounding Bimberi, which was front-page headlines, had led to a very risk adverse culture by staff and management that meant that the young people in Bimberi were missing out on opportunities they might otherwise have had. I make the point that we should be very aware of the potential that this place has to influence the culture within parts of the public service as well. We should always be mindful of the impact our actions can have on the public service as a group and also on the individuals who work very hard to do their best for the territory.
I would also like to pick up on the Chief Minister’s remark at the end of her speech. I very much think that on many occasions the behaviour in this place is way below where it should be. We should be role modelling how we want behaviour to be, not just within the public service but right across the ACT—in neighbourhoods, in schools and so forth. Quite frankly, many times it is pretty appalling and you see the bullying behaviour that goes on.
Of course, the government of the day have the greatest capacity to influence the culture and the buck must stop with them. We expect ministers to be able to influence the culture within the service so that there can be no ambiguity about what is and is not okay and what the underlying values and expectations are. The culture comes from the top. It is vital that a positive culture is set at the top and filters right down through the service. This means being open to new ideas and being comfortable admitting when mistakes are made, learning from them and moving on. That said, we should all be trying to create an environment that encourages creativity and a level of prudent risk taking and, most importantly, that when the evidence clearly points to a particular course of action they will not shy away from it because it is not what has always been done or there is necessarily a level of risk in it because others have not tried it elsewhere.
On the more general approach to the public service and their role within the government and the culture created in the public service, I would draw members’ attention to an interesting book by the Australia and New Zealand School of
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