SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE —
GOVERNANCE
1387. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the Leader of the House representing
the Minister for Public Sector Management:
This question was submitted on 19
November. I refer to governance practices as they are applied to senior
executive service officials across the Western Australian public sector.
(1) What legal
obligation is placed on members of the SES to declare their personal financial
interests in a manner that is at least consistent with the obligations for
disclosure placed on members of Parliament?
(2) What is the source of this
legal obligation?
(3) Who bears
responsibility for ensuring compliance with the aforementioned obligation at
the departmental level?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) Although there is no direct requirement placed on
members of the senior executive service that is consistent with the
obligations placed on members of Parliament, all public sector officers are
required to comply with the standards of conduct and integrity set out in
section 9 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and the code of ethics
issued by the Public Sector Commissioner. These establish, among other things,
a requirement to act impartially and with integrity. Under Commissioner's
Instruction 8, agencies are required to have
a code of conduct in place and to ensure compliance with it. Conflict of
interest is specified as an area that all codes of conduct must address.
The conduct guide published by the Public Sector Commission requires that
agency codes of conduct address declarations of conflicts of interest. Further,
clause 11 of the standard contract for SES officers states —
The Officer must comply with public
sector standards and codes of ethics and observe the principles of official
conduct in section 9 of the Act.
Schedule A states —
The Officer agrees to report
accurately, fully and without omission periodically as required by the
provisions of the Act, the Financial Management Act 2006, and such other
acts, regulations, rules and instructions as may from time to time be applicable.
The Officer agrees to comply, to the maximum extent required by all relevant
acts regulations, rules and instructions and relevant public sector standards,
codes of ethics and codes of conduct as may from time to time effect the
operations of the agency.
There
are a range of financial controls that agencies and key public sector officers
are responsible for under the Financial Management Act 2006 and
Treasurer's Instructions, including Treasurer's Instruction
924, which mandates compliance with Australian
accounting standard AASB 124, ''Related Party Disclosures''.
It is noted that TI924 also applies to cabinet ministers in their role as key
management personnel of government agencies, though not to other members of
Parliament. Noncompliance by a public servant with
any of the preceding requirements constitutes a breach of discipline for the
employer to enforce under the Public Sector Management Act.