Page 258 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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Services Directorate who work very closely with oversight agencies and welcome their oversight.
MR HANSON: How can the Public Advocate contribute to strong, independent and external oversight when your government is, in the Public Advocate’s own words, trying to control the way in which they provide that oversight?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Again, I note that Mr Hanson has provided no timing on that or a source for that quote. I do not believe that that is the case. I do not believe that that is what child and youth protection services is doing or what the Community Services Directorate is doing. It is certainly not the intention of the ACT government.
Work safety—regulator
MS CHEYNE: My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Safety. Minister, how is the ACT government delivering on its commitment to establish a new independent work safety regulator?
MS ORR: I thank Ms Cheyne for her question. Every worker deserves to go home safely. Our commitment to establish an independent work safety regulator came from a 2018 review of WorkSafe ACT. That review identified ways that we could make our regulation and enforcement of work safety laws even stronger.
Since the 2018 review, we have worked hard to deliver this change and to deliver it quickly and effectively. Comprehensive legislation was developed to give the new Work Health and Safety Commissioner independence in monitoring and enforcing the law. That legislation, which passed last year, establishes the Work Health and Safety Commissioner as a new role. The new commissioner is independent of government and responsible for both enforcement of the law and providing advice on how to improve work safety. A thorough recruitment process to fill this role is currently underway.
In addition to setting up the legislative foundations for stronger regulation, this government is committing significant resources to improve work health and safety. Yesterday I announced an additional $8.7 million in funding for WorkSafe ACT over the next four years. This funding will go towards additional inspectors, data analysts, communications specialists and a whole range of other functions within WorkSafe ACT, to put it in the best position it has been in to ensure that Canberrans are safe at work.
MS CHEYNE: Minister, how will an independent WorkSafe benefit working people in the ACT?
MS ORR: Again thank you, Ms Cheyne. Safety in our workplaces is everybody’s responsibility and we need people to be diligent every day they are in the workplace. What we have seen at the start of this year is the need to continue to get out there and promote a safety culture across all of Canberra.
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