The Public Service Act 1999 () is an Australian law, passed in 1999 by the
Howard Government that regulates the federal
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...
.
The Act regulates the employment of federal public servants in Australia.
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.
It also establishes requirements that public servants be hired on merit.
Prior to the public service act, other statutes were in force to ensure that public service selection would be on merit.
Such statutes arose historically as an effort to eliminate the
spoils system
In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...
from democratic politics.
The Act also established the office of the
Australian Public Service Commissioner and the
Merit Protection Commissioner
The Australian Merit Protection Commissioner is an independent statutory office holder providing employment services to the Australian Public Service and the Parliamentary Service. The current Commissioner is Linda Waugh. The Commissioner is assi ...
as well as the
Australian Public Service Commission
The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is a statutory agency of the Australian Government, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that acts to ensure the organisational and workforce capability to meet future needs a ...
.
History
In November 1996,
Peter Reith
Peter Keaston Reith (15 July 1950 – 8 November 2022) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and from 1984 to 2001, representing the Liberal Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 1990 ...
issued a discussion paper, ''Towards a best practice Australian Public Service'', that, among other things, recommended key elements which might need to be incorporated into a new streamlined and principles-based Public Service Act.
After several years spent developing a new Act, the ''Public Service Act 1999'' came into effect on 5 December 1999.
Code of conduct
The Act also introduced APS Values and a Code of Conduct for the first time, under which public servants who breach the code of conduct can be demoted, fined, reprimanded or fired.
The constitutionality of the code of conduct of the Act was challenged in 2019 in the
High Court case
Comcare v Banerji
Comcare v Banerji is a decision of the High Court of Australia. It was an appeal brought by Comcare against former public servant Michaela Banerji, seeking to overturn a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The tribunal had declare ...
, which ruled unanimously that the code was compatible with Australia's
freedom of political communication doctrine.
See also
*
Comcare v Banerji
Comcare v Banerji is a decision of the High Court of Australia. It was an appeal brought by Comcare against former public servant Michaela Banerji, seeking to overturn a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The tribunal had declare ...
References
{{reflist
Law of Australia
Australian Public Service