Public Service Act 1999 [1]
Parliament of Australia
Commenced5 December 1999
Introduced byHoward government
Status: In force

The Public Service Act 1999 (Public Service Act, 1999 (Cth)) is an Australian law, passed in 1999 by the Howard government that regulates the federal Australian Public Service.

The Act regulates the employment of federal public servants in Australia.[1]

The Act establishes obligations of the Australian Government toward its public servants, and establishes the code of conduct to which they must adhere, including a requirement that they act apolitically, and not disseminate or exploit government information without authorization.[1] It also establishes requirements that public servants be hired on merit.[1]

Prior to the public service act, other statutes were in force to ensure that public service selection would be on merit.[2] Such statutes arose historically as an effort to eliminate the spoils system from democratic politics.[2]

The Act also established the office of the Australian Public Service Commissioner[3] and the Merit Protection Commissioner as well as the Australian Public Service Commission.

History

In November 1996, Peter Reith issued a discussion paper, Towards a best practice Australian Public Service,[4] that, among other things, recommended key elements which might need to be incorporated into a new streamlined and principles-based Public Service Act.[4]

After several years spent developing a new Act, the Public Service Act 1999 came into effect on 5 December 1999.[5]

Code of conduct

The Act also introduced APS Values and a Code of Conduct for the first time,[5] under which public servants who breach the code of conduct can be demoted, fined, reprimanded or fired.[6]

The constitutionality of the code of conduct of the Act was challenged in 2019 in the High Court case Comcare v Banerji, which ruled unanimously that the code was compatible with Australia's freedom of political communication doctrine.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Comcare v Banerji [2019] HCA 23
  2. ^ a b Comcare v Banerji [2019] HCA 23 at Gageler's judgement
  3. ^ Public Service Act, 1999 (Cth)
  4. ^ a b A history in three acts: Evolution of the Public Service Act 1999 2004, p. 125.
  5. ^ a b A history in three acts: Evolution of the Public Service Act 1999 2004.
  6. ^ Mannheim, Markus (18 January 2012). "PS on notice over social media use". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
  7. ^ "'A loss for all of us': Public servant loses landmark free speech High Court case". www.abc.net.au. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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