Page 4148 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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I would like to summarise the major features of the bill, which is a much more accessible, streamlined piece of legislation, removing about 100 pages from the current PSM Act.
The bill establishes the public service and deliberately distinguishes the public service proper from the remainder of the sector. That is, it delineates those officials employed in directorates who ultimately report to the head of service from the rest of the agencies in the ACT public sector that also employ staff to facilitate and reinforce clear reporting and accountability.
The parts of the current PSM Act that deal with employment powers have been stripped back to high level heads of power. Regulations will contain the detail about how those powers are to be exercised, and when legal authority is required. This approach will ensure that the legislative provisions can easily complement agreements as they change.
The bill introduces new public sector principles that set expectations of a high performing, efficient and accountable public sector. It also includes the ACTPS values which were the subject of much consultation across the public sector and were finalised in 2012. While the ACT public sector code of conduct will remain in subordinate legislation, it is appropriate that the revised values are elevated into the primary legislation, providing a high level statement of how the public sector is to conduct itself.
An important change which I am sure members will be interested in is the creation of a stand-alone office of public sector standards commissioner, replacing the Commissioner for Public Administration. The role is to have specific whole-of-sector functions, mainly relating to upholding behaviours and conduct.
In order to achieve the best possible outcomes for the territory, contract executives under the PSM Act will be reorganised into a formally established SES, senior executive service, with accompanying functions around promoting collegiality and cooperation across the service.
The bill will also remove the arcane concepts of “office” and “offices”. Public servants will still be employed in a position at a certain classification in the public sector, but will not be tied to a specific position. This will facilitate mobility and redistribution of resources to make the public service more agile and readily able to respond effectively in line with changes to government priorities.
Lastly, it refocuses the key concept of merit to concentrate on outcomes rather than simply an expression of process. Merit remains, as it should, the cornerstone of the public service. However, it has been recast to focus on the best recruitment result for the sector. Procedural fairness will remain an important feature but process requirements will not be prioritised over outcomes.
As I mentioned earlier, one of our biggest challenges is to make sure that the legislation establishing the public sector and the public service continues to be
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