Government Sector Employment Bill 2013
The State Government introduced the Government Sector Employment Bill 2013 on Thursday 23 May. This Bill was foreshadowed in the Public Sector reform announcement made in February this year.
The Bill is a comprehensive rewrite of the existing Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 which the new legislation will replace when it is proclaimed.
In summary, the Bill:
- Amends the structure of the public sector
- Removes statutory protections for merit selection
- Abolishes promotional appeals
- Removes permanent positions
- Expands the grounds for termination
- Diminishes the size of the NSW Industrial Relation jurisdiction
- Transfers extended leave provisions to regulation
- Creates new statutory instruments called government sector employment rules
Here is a more detailed analysis of the Bill.
The Public Service Commission has advised the PSA that the Bill will not come into operation for four to six months. This is because the Bill cannot operate without the regulations and government sector employment rules being put in place.
The Bill is cognate with the Members of Parliament Staff Bill 2013 which creates separate employment legislation for the staff of political office holders including staff of Ministers and Members of Parliament.
The PSA met with the Public Service Commissioner on 24 May to raise our concerns with the Bill and ask a number of questions. Here is the Public Service Commissioner’s letter in response to our questions.
On 28 May, PSA General Secretary, Anne Gardiner wrote to Treasurer, Mike Baird regarding the new legislation.
The PSA is concerned with a number of the provisions contained in the proposed legislation. There is an enormous amount of change contained in the Bill which will take some time to properly digest.
For that reason the PSA has requested that the Government not rush the process.
The PSA requests that members provide their feedback or observations about the Bill to
