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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1103 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 October 2020 by Hon Peter Collier

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

PUBLIC SECTOR — ORGANISATIONAL AND MANAGEMENT POLICIES

1103. Hon PETER COLLIER to the minister representing the Treasurer:

I ask this question on behalf of Hon Tjorn Sibma, who is on urgent parliamentary business.

I refer to the financial impacts of reviewing, designing and implementing the government's public sector organisational and management programs and policies since March 2017, including the machinery-of-government changes.

(1) Has Treasury calculated the full financial cost of these policies, and what is that cost?

(2) Has Treasury calculated the full financial benefit of these policies, and what is that benefit?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by the Treasurer.

(1) In most cases, costs other than separation costs associated with machinery-of-government changes were absorbed within existing agency budgets at the time. A portion of the 2017–18 voluntary targeted separation scheme was allocated to assist with machinery-of-government changes. As shown on page 18 of the 2017–18 Annual Report on State Finances, total separation costs for the VTSS by 30 June 2018 were $280 million. The allocation of this cost to the machinery-of-government changes versus other changes in agency workforces is not available.

(2) The service priority review identified a savings outcome from the machinery-of-government process. A total of $763 million was included as savings from the implementation of the government's wages policy, $498 million over the four years to 2020–21; the VTSS initiative, $171 million of the total $526 million scheme estimate at the time; reductions in the number of state executive service employees, $78 million; and a salary freeze for employees who are subject to Salaries and Allowances Tribunal determinations, $16 million. Commencing with the 2017–18 budget, the savings from these reforms were written into agency budgets as part of the successful integration of the machinery-of-government changes.