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FACT SHEET
State Service Amendment
(Performance) Bill 2011
The purpose of the proposed Bill is to amend the current State Service Act
2000, the Principal Act, by providing a legislative framework for managing
performance and underperformance in the State Service and identifying
roles, responsibilities, expectation and accountability of all those involved.
Specifically the proposed Bill:
revises the current State Service Principle 7(J) thereby introducing
accountability, expectation of performance, responsiveness to
Government priorities and quality service delivery of all officers and
employees (individuals);
introduces reciprocal obligation for all parties. This involves:
Head of Agency, who will ensure, and is accountable for,
effective performance management systems and programs
being in place to enable individuals to achieve agreed
performance;
the individual, who will actively prepare for, and participate in,
the performance management process and achieve the
required performance; and
the manager/supervisor, who will assist the individual to achieve
the required performance, participate in the performance
management process and manage underperformance where it
exists;
makes individual's performance management plan the basis and
pivotal point in which performance standards and requirements are
identified and agreed (by the individual and their manager) as the
expected level of performance. This provides a greater focus on, and
expectation of, the roles that the individual and their manager have in
this process;
ensures individual's underperformance is evaluated against this agreed
performance, thereby making the expectation clear and
documented;
provides a new termination provision, subject to natural justice
principles, on the grounds of underperformance. This is in addition to
the current termination provisions in the Principal Act which will remain.
These current provisions cover inability to redeploy, performance of
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duties assigned, breach of Code of Conduct and other grounds
prescribed in current Regulations covering termination of probation or
abandonment of employment;
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amends current functions and powers of the Head of Agency, making
the Head of Agency more accountable and reinforces their obligation
and responsibility for performance management by: -
ensuring a performance plan is consultatively developed and in
place between all individuals and their manager;
developing and implementing effective performance
management, and associated development, to help individuals
meet their identified performance;
assisting individuals to undertake relevant development to
achieve identified performance; and
reporting on the effectiveness of performance management in
the Agency's Annual Report which provides transparency and
accountability within the Agency and across the State Service;
requires in addition, specific roles, responsibilities, obligations and
actions for the Head of Agency, including:
integration with, and focus on, performance management and
associated development on the Agency's business direction,
thereby enabling quality service delivery across the State
Service;
ensuring all individuals participate in the Agency's performance
management system, and understand its importance, allowing a
specific focus on productivity; and
effective performance management and supporting
development exists, and information on these within the Agency
are made available to individuals to support enhanced
productivity;
articulates the individual's roles and responsibilities by clearly placing
the onus on them to be responsible and accountable for their own
performance, actively prepare for and participate in the Agency's
performance management systems, to perform their duties in line with
identified performance and undertake relevant development activities
identified in that plan to achieve required performance;
provides for a Ministerial Direction which will identify specific details on
performance management including roles and responsibilities for
reporting requirements, and the actions the Head of Agency may take
for individuals who achieve performance greater than identified and
those identified as underperforming;
provides processes and timeframes which the Head of Agency must
comply with when recommending to the Minister responsible for
administering the State Service Act termination of employment. Such
an approach provides for consistency, transparency and fairness
across the State Service;
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provides for natural justice principles for those deemed to be
underperforming as the Head of Agency cannot make a
recommendation for termination for employment without individuals
having the opportunity to redress their performance by accessing
performance management infrastructure that Heads of Agency are
required to have in place; and
provides for termination of employment which rest with the Minister on
recommendation from the Head of Agency.
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