EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO. 14
PUBLIC SERVICE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Issued with the authority of the Public Service Board
Sub-section 97(1) of the Public Service Act 1922 (‘the Act’) provides that the Public Service Board may, with the approval of the Governor-General, make regulations prescribing all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Sub-section 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides (inter alia) that, where an Act confers a power to make regulations, the power shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including a power to repeal those regulations.
These statutory rules repeal regulations 20 and 21 of the Public Service Regulations.
Regulation 20 provided that the Board would be notified whenever the number of officers available in a departmental work area was greater than the business demanded or could be reduced by rearrangement of duties or improved methods of working.
Regulation 21 provided that a report would be made to the Board if inefficient, incompetent, unfit or incapable officers were identified in any Department.
The procedures for dealing with situations of excess staff and inefficient officers were formerly found in sections 20 and 67 of the Act and in the above-mentioned regulations, but those sections have been repealed and the procedures are now located in the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Act 1979 and the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Regulations. It was considered appropriate therefore to repeal the now ineffective provisions in the Public Service Regulations.