Today in Parliament, Abigail contributed to a debate on a bill advocating for increased accountability and oversight by the NSW Government within the public sector and to finally reduce their reliance on consultants.
Abigail said:
On behalf of The Greens I contribute to debate on the Government Sector Employment and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The bill follows the interim findings of a review into the Government Sector Employment Act 2013. The findings of the review focused on the need for the Public Service Commissioner's [PSC] integrity functions to be exercised as an independent statutory officer at arm's length from the Executive. The changes have the effect of narrowing the commissioner's role to those closely related to their integrity function: leading the strategic development and management of the government sector workforce in relation to recruitment, equity and diversity; general conduct and compliance with ethical standards; learning and development; and executive employment arrangements.
The functions that the commissioner will no longer be responsible for will be transferred to the Premier's Department. That is intended to give the Government greater oversight over workforce reform and planning, mobility, data collection, talent pool management and website management, and eventually to reduce reliance on consultants. We were assured that of the 120- to 140-person workforce currently within the PSC, no jobs are anticipated to be lost, although it is currently unclear how many will be transferred over to the Premier's Department.
The Commissioner will report on their work and activities to the Premier every year, and the Premier will in turn provide a report to Parliament every year on the state of the government sector. The bill also amends the employment arrangements for the CEO of the NSW Reconstruction Authority under the NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022 so that the CEO is not required to be employed at band 4 secretary level, and aligns the arrangements with the Government Sector Employment Act framework and employment arrangements for other executive agency heads.
I am pleased to see the Government finally taking steps to, hopefully, take back active management and oversight of the capacities and shape of the New South Wales public sector. Under the leadership of the previous Government, we saw a weakening of the public service, with a hollowing out of capacity and real or perceived skills gaps that have left us at the mercy of consultants and contractors—and what a catastrophically reckless waste of public money that was.
I am pleased to learn that, in their new roles in the Premier's Department, a new Core NSW Public Service Work Policy will be developed to set clear expectations of the types of work that agencies must be able to perform in-house. This responds closely to recommendations emerging from the Public Accountability and Works Committee's inquiry into consultants. Similarly, a new group will be responsible for undertaking long-term planning for essential services delivery, especially in identifying skills shortages and workforce gaps. We are also told there will be a function within the Premier's Department that will attempt to redirect public sector agencies to in-house specialist resources and to build in‑house capabilities for services with the highest demand. Again, this is a close match to the recommendations emerging from the committee's report on consultants.
For too long, the New South Wales Government has taken a hands-off approach to the shape and capacity of the public service. It is my hope that this change will see a new careful and cultivating approach to the public sector that will not only serve to provide greater value for money in the short term but also set New South Wales up to be at the forefront of public sector capacity, innovation and leadership into the future. Many of us often forget that, in our political system, an important function in driving high‑quality policies for the benefit of the public is a strong, confident and agile public service. Years of neglect have left a big task ahead of us, but I look forward to helping, on behalf of The Greens, in whatever way I can.
It is an important policy point, and for that reason I think it is appropriate for the carriage of and responsibility for delivery of this policy promise to be held by an agency accountable to a Minister, so that we can hold that Minister and the Premier responsible for its success or its failure. But I say to Labor members to be careful what they wish for. If they fail to live up to the promise and we slide back into the bad old days of contractors, consultants and skills gaps, then they will not be able to blame it on an independent agency; they will have nobody but themselves to blame. The Greens support the bill.