Page 4830 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
should be set at a high level and that a former judge would be appropriate to be the territory’s first integrity commissioner, if such a suitable candidate is available, particularly given that the commission will have coverage of judicial officers.
The commissioner cannot ever have served as an ACT MLA or as an MP of the commonwealth parliament or the parliament of another state or territory. This is to avoid any perception of political bias. To be eligible for appointment, commission staff must also not have served in the ACT public service for at least five years. Again, this is to avoid any perception of bias in the involvement in an investigation into former colleagues. This is a change from an earlier version of the bill, and this change was made on a balance of factors, noting that in a small jurisdiction such as ours, this may limit the number of suitable and qualified applicants for roles within the commission.
The bill also establishes the role of inspector, at chapter 5. This has an important oversight function over the commission. In the current bill, the commission will be required to make a monthly report to the inspector on its use of powers to ensure that the commission is not overstepping its legislatively authorised role. The bill has been amended to provide for the ACT Ombudsman to be the inspector until such a time as an appointment is made. It is the government’s view that the ACT Ombudsman is well placed to be the inspector, as these functions are complementary and consistent with the ACT Ombudsman’s existing role.
There are challenges in establishing and appointing a further statutory officer in a small jurisdiction like the ACT to provide oversight over the commission, particularly in the early stages of the commission commencing operations. As members would be aware, the government has appropriated funding of $8.4 million over four years in the 2018-19 budget to establish the ACT integrity commission, which also includes funding for the inspector. It is anticipated that the integrity commission will be operational from 1 July 2019. However, the commissioner and other staff appointments can be made prior to this time.
Madam Speaker, I would also like to highlight that I will table today on behalf of the government the Integrity Commission (ACT Policing) Amendment Bill exposure draft. The exposure draft provides that the commission’s jurisdiction extends to members of ACT Policing. As I am sure members are aware, the Assembly does not currently have legislative power under the self-government act to make laws in relation to ACT Policing. However, the government firmly believes that ACT Policing should be included within the scope of the integrity commission, just as the police forces of other jurisdictions are covered by their integrity commissions.
However, due to the unique nature of the ACT’s policing structure, and the restrictions on the ACT’s capacity to bind federal organisations, it is not possible at this time to include ACT Policing provisions within the bill, absent of the legislative power to do so. Instead, the government has prepared the exposure draft to signal to the Assembly, to ACT Policing and to the commonwealth government that we are committed to the integrity commission having oversight of ACT Policing.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video