EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1989 No. 58
Public Service Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations for and on behalf of the Prime Minister
Subsection 97(1) of the Public Service Act 1922 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Subsection 33(3) of the Act provides that powers under the Act in respect of appointment, transfer or promotion shall be exercised without various types of unjustified discrimination. Paragraph 33(4)(b) provides a mechanism for permitting certain discrimination in accordance with a program to encourage the appointment of women or persons in a designated group, provided that the program is declared by the regulations to be an approved program for the purposes of that paragraph.
Regulation 5 of the Public Service Regulations (the Regulations) provides the address for all communications intended for the former Public Service Board.
Regulation 6A of the Regulations makes provision for various means of service of documents.
Regulation 71B prescribes approved programs for the purposes of paragraph 33(4)(b) of the Act.
Regulation 160 provides the Director of the Merit Protection and Review Agency with a power of delegation.
Schedule 3A to the Regulations specifies the bodies prescribed as public authorities for the purpose of paragraph (b) of the definition of public authority in subsection 87(1) of the Act, which is relevant for the purposes of Part IV of the Act.
The Public Service Regulations (Amendment) make four separate amendments to the Public Service Regulations.
Regulation 1 cites the Public Service Regulations as the Principal Regulations
Regulation 2 repeals regulations 5 and 6A of the Principal Regulations. Regulation 5 referred to the Secretary, Public Service Board and to the Regional Director, Public Service Board as addressees for communication. These references are no longer current. Regulation 6A provided for service of documents. The provision was considered unnecessary as a similar provision is contained in sections 28A and 29 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Regulation 3 amends regulation 71B, first, by substituting the term ‘Graduate Administrative Assistant’ for ‘Administrative Research Officer’ and the term ‘Administrative Service Officer (Aboriginal Services), Class 1’ for ‘Clerical Assistant (Aboriginal Services) Grade 1’ and ‘Clerk (Aboriginal Services) Class 1’, in order to reflect the new office-based structure. Secondly, a new subregulation 71B(2) was added declaring a new program to encourage the appointment to the Service of persons who have intellectual disabilities to be an approved program. The program is known as the Intellectual Disability Access Program (IDAP). The effect of the prescription is to make permissible the discrimination necessary to appoint such persons.
Regulation 4 amends regulation 160 to correct a long standing typographical error in subregulation 160(1) and by omitting subregulations (2) and (3) which have been made redundant by the insertion of section 34AB into the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 in 1987.
Regulation 5 amends Schedule 3A of the Regulations by substituting the new name for a company which has recently changed its name.