EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1987 NO 137
Public Service Regulations (Amendment)
Issued with the Authority of the Public Service Board.
Subsection 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 the carrying out or giving effect to the Act, including for making provision about the duties and conduct of officers
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.
The statutory rules repealed Regulations 32 and 34 of the Public Service Regulations (the Regulations) and replaced them with a new Regulation 8A. The statutory rules also provided for the insertion of a new Regulation 8B.
The statutory rules were made following the Board’s consideration of a report of a sub-committee of the Joint Council of the Australian Public Service, a union-management consultative body, and recommendations R198 and R199 of the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration (RCAGA).
The previous Regulation 32 detailed the obligations and duties of officers. The duties, as previously stated, were commented on by the Joint Council sub-committee as being “antiquated and not an adequate expression of the duties of public servants”. New Regulation 8A updates the expression of the duties of public servants, taking into account the relevant elements of RCAGA recommendation R199, so as to provide a modern and clearly expressed statement of principles about the duties and conduct of officers.
The previous Regulation 34 restricted officers from making public comment except in the discharge of their official duties. The Joint Council sub-committee recommended that Regulation 34 be amended so as to change emphasis from restriction on public comment to the imposition of a duty on officers not to misuse official information gained in the course of employment. Sub-regulation (h) of Regulation 8A replaced Regulation 34 and thus integrated the
sub-committee’s recommendation into the updated statutory summary of the duties of officers.
Regulation 8B provides a new head of power for the declaration or avoidance of interests (pecuniary or otherwise) which may be in conflict with the duties of officers. There was no existing head of power in either the Act or the Regulations dealing with the issue of conflict of interests. The new regulation reflects RCAGA recommendation R198/ which recommended that “a system for registering pecuniary interests of public servants be developed”.
The opportunity was taken to insert the regulations into a more logical position within the framework of the Public Service Regulations.