The 2022/23 Budget includes a total of around $2 million for projects to begin to implement the 77 recommendations from the Review of the Tasmanian State Service.
There is $240,000 in 2022/23 to review the effectiveness of the current processes to investigate Code of Conduct breaches across the State Service.
At present each Agency appoints people to conduct its investigations, a mixture of private investigators and law firms. This is an expensive option, often with very mixed results and there seems to be a conflict of interest in that the longer the investigation takes, the more that is charged.
Having a team of internal investigators who can do this work coupled with changes to the Employment Direction, so the complexity investigation is matched to the seriousness of the allegation (and possible consequence), seems like a sensible change.
There is $200,00 a year for two years to review the State Service Act and current Employment Directions with the aim of devolving further decision making to Heads of Agency. While some of this is supported by the CPSU, some Employment Directions contain workplace rights and these will need to be transferred to other industrial instruments if the EDs are to be revoked. It is assumed that 2 years of funding means it’s unlikely we’ll see amendments to the State Service Act in Parliament before the spring sittings in 2024.
There is $250,000 a year for 2 years to improve Right to Information processes. This will allow for the provision of centralised training that will build the skills of RTI officers thereby encouraging them to make decisions without needing to refer to senior Agency officers.
There is $875,000 over three years to coordinate the government response to the recommendations. This will fund a project team to support the governance of the project and coordinate the implementation. This funding would support the team until the end of 2024.
