Public Service and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill reforms Queensland's public service employment laws based on the independent Bridgman Review. It makes permanent employment the default for government workers, gives temporary and casual employees new rights to request conversion to permanent roles, and introduces positive performance management principles that require managers to support employees before resorting to discipline.
Who it affects
Queensland public servants on temporary or casual contracts are most directly affected, gaining new conversion rights. All public service employees benefit from clearer discipline rules and stronger procedural protections. Public service managers must adopt new performance management practices.
Key changes
- Permanent employment becomes the default basis for public service jobs, with temporary and casual engagement only permitted where permanent employment is not viable or appropriate
- Temporary and casual employees can request conversion to permanent employment after 1 year, with mandatory management reviews after 2 years and annually thereafter
- Employees acting at a higher classification level for 1 year or more can request permanent appointment to that level
- Positive performance management principles must be applied before disciplinary action is taken for performance matters
- The threshold for disciplinary action is clarified so that only conduct 'sufficiently serious' warrants formal discipline
- Public service appeals are transferred to the Industrial Relations Act for greater consistency and transparency
- A new Special Commissioner role is created to advise on public administration issues including gender pay equity and workforce diversity
- Non-citizens with Commonwealth work rights (including permanent residents, refugees, and asylum seekers) become eligible for public service appointment
Bill Story
The journey of this bill through Parliament, including debate and recorded votes.
▸Committee16 July 2020View Hansard
Referred to Education, Employment and Small Business Committee
The Education, Employment and Small Business Committee examined the Public Service and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 over approximately two months, receiving nine submissions and holding a public hearing and departmental briefing. The committee unanimously recommended the bill be passed, noting broad stakeholder support for reforms aimed at maximising employment security and promoting permanent employment as the default basis in the Queensland public service. The committee also recommended that the Department of the Premier and Cabinet investigate a mechanism to ensure fairness and transparency when a chief executive fails to make a conversion decision within 28 days.
Key findings (5)
- Stakeholders broadly supported the bill's objective of maximising employment security and promoting permanency as the default basis of public sector employment.
- Unions and legal stakeholders raised concerns about the 28-day deemed refusal provision for employment conversion requests, where a chief executive's failure to decide within 28 days is treated as a refusal without requiring written reasons.
- The bill introduces new appeal rights, including for suspension without pay decisions and conversion decisions after two years, and transfers public service appeals from the Public Service Act to the Industrial Relations Act to increase transparency through published decisions.
- The committee found the bill's amendments to discipline and investigation provisions were appropriate, clarifying that disciplinary action should not be taken for minor infringements and promoting timely, proportionate resolution of matters.
- The bill removes citizenship requirements that previously prevented non-citizens with a lawful right to work in Australia from being employed on tenure, furthering human rights objectives.
Recommendations (2)
- The committee recommends the Public Service and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 be passed.
- The committee recommends the Department of the Premier and Cabinet investigates an appropriate mechanism to provide fairness and transparency of the decision-making process to a person where the chief executive does not make a conversion decision within 28 days, pursuant to proposed new sections 149A and 149C of the Public Service Act 2008.
Committee report tabled
▸Second Reading9 Sept 2020View Hansard
▸12 members spoke7 support5 mixed
As Minister for Industrial Relations, introduced the bill on behalf of the Premier, emphasising it restores fairness in public sector employment by making permanency the default, introducing positive performance management, and implementing Bridgman review recommendations.
“This bill will ensure the Queensland public sector is a fair employer that is best positioned to be responsive to the community and meets the needs of government in a changing world.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Stated the LNP will not oppose the bill as the Bridgman review recommendations are reasonable, but criticised the creation of a Special Commissioner as unnecessary bureaucracy and expressed concern about the right-of-entry amendments benefiting the CFMEUQ.
“To a large extent, what the bill achieves is reasonable and that is why the opposition will not be opposing the bill.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
As committee chair, supported the bill's core objectives of maximising employment security, promoting permanency as the default basis of employment, and introducing positive performance management principles.
“At its core this bill is about maximising employment security and promoting permanency as the default basis of employment for the public sector.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Stated the LNP will not oppose the bill as updating public service employment laws is the right thing to do, but questioned the need for a Special Commissioner for Equity and Diversity and criticised the delay in bringing the bill to the House.
“The LNP will not oppose this bill because it is the right thing to do. Queensland's public servants do an incredible job and it is beyond time that the laws which dictate their employment receive an update.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Strongly supported the bill, arguing the Labor government values public servants and their contributions, in contrast to the LNP which sacked 14,000 public servants between 2012 and 2015.
“What this traditional Labor government has always done since 2015 is respect public servants. It values the work that public servants do in our community.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Stated the LNP will not oppose the bill but criticised the delay in bringing it forward, questioned the need for a Special Commissioner as adding unnecessary bureaucracy, and noted concerns about drawn-out disciplinary processes.
“Whilst for them this bill will go some way to ensuring that they have better job security in this ever-changing economy, it is also a slap in the face because it has taken until the eleventh hour for this government to finally make them a priority.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Supported the bill as being about employment security for frontline public sector workers who have done a fantastic job in challenging times.
“This bill is all about employment security of our public sector workers.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Supported the bill, drawing on his 21 years as a Queensland Rail public servant to highlight how important public service jobs are for regional communities and the flow-on economic effects when positions are cut.
“The flow-on effects of the decision to get rid of three or four public servants has a massive impact on those communities.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Supported the bill, arguing it strengthens the Public Service and provides fair working conditions for nurses, teachers, police and other public servants.
“We need to know that what they say here when they pretend to support public servants means they will actually go on to undermine the working conditions of public servants when they get into government.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Questioned the cost and necessity of the Special Commissioner for Equity and Diversity, arguing the money would be better spent on frontline resources like police, hospital staff and school bus services.
“I ask the minister to outline the cost of this appointment and the office that may be established along with it.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Stated the LNP does not oppose the bill but raised concerns about the delay in bringing it forward, the unnecessary cost of the Special Commissioner, and the excessive length of disciplinary proceedings.
“The LNP does not oppose the bill. However, we do have some concerns, firstly, the time that it has taken for the bill to come before the House.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
Supported the bill as a committee member, emphasising the importance of job security for public servants in regional areas and arguing permanent employment helps attract people to rural Queensland.
“People who have jobs and job security mean they buy houses and they settle down. This is especially important in the rural and regional areas of Queensland when public servants move into an area.”— 2020-09-09View Hansard
▸In Detail9 Sept 2020View Hansard
Amendments 1 to 31 comprising technical and clarifying amendments to transitional provisions for casual employee conversion, clarification of continuous employment definitions, new appeal rights for conversion decisions about hours of work, insertion of the Office of the WHS Prosecutor into Schedule 1, validation of WHS Prosecutor acts, amendments to the Building Industry Fairness Act for fire protection licensing, and amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act to extend right-of-entry provisions to cover electrical safety contraventions.
Assent date: 21 May 2018