The Tasmanian Liberal Government is fixing the budget mess we inherited from the former Labor-Green Government.
As a result of the tough decision to reduce the size of the State Service so we could continue to afford the services Tasmanians need, we are now on track for a Budget surplus next year – three years ahead of schedule.
Getting the budget back on track means we can afford to invest in essential services like additional nurses, more police on the beat and literacy and numeracy programs for children.
As committed, today I am releasing the State Service Management Office review of the recent public sector redundancy program.
The Compliance and Evaluation Assessment Report has found no evidence of misconduct or impropriety.
It is standard practice for the SSMO to ensure programs such as redundancy rounds are operating within the guidelines, and assists in improving how they are rolled out.
The report has identified areas where improvement can be made and has made seven recommendations.
The Government has accepted all the recommendations, because it is important that Tasmanians have confidence in how positions are managed within the state service.
The report has highlighted a number of areas that can be improved, particularly the longstanding use of facilitated targeted negotiated redundancies.
The report identified six facilitated TNVR with a net cost of $319,628, which will generate a total saving of $1 million over four years.
However, while there was no wrong-doing, the Government will implement a requirement that individuals occupy a position for six months before being eligible for a facilitated redundancy.
The report also identified some agencies had used an incorrect divisor when calculating payments, which it estimates has led to about 120 payments with an average error of 0.5 per cent of the total average payment. Agencies are in the process of rectifying these payments.
The recommendations of the report are in the process of being implemented across all agencies where areas of improvement have been identified, including drafting new guidelines to govern the operation of such arrangements in the future.
For the full report go to: http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/ssmo
Will Hodgman, Premier
