Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, , 35:43 to 39:59
The committee examines the Secretary's Board submission regarding the use of Senate estimates footage on social media and its impact on parliamentary accountability.
Topics: Public service staffing, Integrity, Workplace culture
Speakers: Mr Jim Betts, Senator The Hon Sarah Henderson
Okay, all right. Well, look, I might leave it then to outcome five. Uh could I please just go to the work of the Secretary's Board, Mr. Betts? So on the 28th of August, the Secretary's Board chaired by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Secretary Stephen Kennedy, uh lodged a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards, saying that officials have not consented to use their evidence and likeness in videos on social media. Um obviously that is of great concern, and there was a subsequent motion passed by the Senate fundamentally rejecting this attempt by the Secretary's Board to shut down this important part of Senate estimates. As a member of the Secretary's Board, did you support the board's submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards?
Yes, I did.
Including the request to prevent social media use of committee evidence?
Well, I don't I'm not sure that's an entirely accurate characterisation. I think what the Secretary's Board was seeking was that broadcasts of proceedings of a committee, including excerpts from committee proceedings, should be for the purpose only of making fair and accurate reports of those proceedings, which is a pre-existing policy of the Senate. So I don't I think the first thing that the Secretary's Board did in its submission was to state clearly that it strongly supported parliamentary accountability, transparency and robust scrutiny. However, it was an inquiry by the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards, which invited submissions from interested parties. Having spent 12 hours in Senate estimates yesterday, I think I am an interested party, as are other secretaries. Our concern, and I know that um there is concern among parliamentarians as well that sometimes behaviour in the Parliament doesn't meet the standards that Parliament has set for itself, and the Chair has been very vigilant in making sure that that is spelt out, including this morning with his references to dignity, courtesy, fairness and respect. We are simply very conscious as employers and accountable authorities that for many of our staff uh if they were exposed to that behaviour, it might compromise their safety in the workplace or their feelings of psychosocial safety. And so we felt it was incumbent on us to make a representation to that committee inquiry, recognising that it is always for the Parliament to set its policies and that nothing that the Secretary's Board is seeking to do is more than to bring legitimate concerns to the attention of the Parliament so that it can take those into account as it makes policy.
And did you did your department contribute to the drafting or the data or the examples used in the submission?
We certainly contributed to the drafting because um that whilst the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet prepared an initial draft, it invited um feedback. Whether that went to specific examples, um I'm I'm sure I was on leave at the time, but we would have contributed to a collective drafting effort, um, and clearly there are some fairly stark examples in there of the types of behaviour and the types of language that gave rise to our concern in the first place. And I'm sure uh Senator you would um share our concern about some of the language which is in there, which is kind of on the record in the hand side.
And uh so has your department received any guidance, advice or talking points from the board, the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, or the Australian Public Service Commission on social media use of committee evidence or on witnesses withholding consent.
So if you've got any we haven't received it, so the only um the only documents which are relevant here that I'm aware of are first of all um the submission that the Secretary's Board made, which is in the public domain, and secondly, the opening statement made by uh Dr. Stephen Kennedy, the Secretary of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet when he gave extensive evidence to um uh Senate estimates yesterday. Again, that is in the