QLD Govt: Review into Culture and Accountability Public Sector

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Brisbanetimes --> Labor U-turns on one-stop government complaint shop $

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has U-turned on a month-old decision that a proposed government complaint body was "unviable".

Palaszczuk said a respected legal figure would now be found to lead the one-stop complaints shop called for by Professor Peter Coaldrake in his government accountability review last year.

"Today I advised cabinet that, in relation to the Coaldrake report, that we will be implementing the clearing house," she told journalists at a press conference after a regular meeting of her ministers on Monday.

"The department had set up a system that, of course, is working. But I think ... in the public interest and being true to the intent of the report, cabinet has endorsed my proposal that we will set up a properly constituted clearing house body." ...

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Couriermail --> Secret cabinet documents to be revealed under new laws $

Queenslanders will no longer have to wait decades to see what State Cabinet has deliberated on, with new laws introduced to Parliament setting the stage for the rapid release of the normally secret documents.

The legislation paves the way for the changes proposed last year by Professor Peter Coaldrake's landmark review of government integrity culture by putting in place protections for the public release of the sensitive information.

The Coaldrake review said voters would have more trust in their government if decisions were "made in the open, and subject to scrutiny".

Currently State Cabinet documents are kept secret for 20 years.

The suite of measures included in the Bill also include making it mandatory that the government inform someone when their private information has been obtained in a data breach. ...

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Queensland Parliament

https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/events/han/2023/2023_11_14_DAILY.pdf

Questions Without Notice

Palaszczuk Labor Government, Cabinet Documents

Mr POWELL: My question is directed to the Premier. It has been over 500 days since the Premier
promised to release cabinet documents within 30 days. Will the secret sentiment polling, reportedly
taken to cabinet, be released in line with the Coaldrake review and the Premier's promise?

Ms PALASZCZUK: I thank the member for the question. As the member is aware, we are
processing a number of reforms, with cabinet documents to be released from the first quarter of next
year.

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https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/99248

Respected former judge appointed to oversee further complaints management reform

28th November 2023

Premier and Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

. Former District Court judge, Mr Michael Forde, has been appointed as the independent and eminent person to oversee the development of the complaints clearinghouse.

. This work will build on actions the government has already take to implement Professor Peter Coaldrake's Let the sunshine in report recommendation, to establish a complaints clearinghouse.

The Premier has announced the appointment of former judge, Mr Michael Forde as the independent person to oversee the complaints management reform and chair a new Complaints Oversight Board.

A former District Court Judge, Mr Forde brings a wealth of knowledge with decades of legal and judicial experience. Admitted as a barrister in 1974, he served at the Bar of Queensland for 20 years. He was appointed to the District Court in 1995 where he served 14 years before retiring from the bench in 2009.

Mr Forde will chair the new Complaints Oversights Board, which will also include members from agencies involved in complaints management, like the Queensland Ombudsman, the CCC, and the Information Commissioner.

Mr Forde will be supported by the clearinghouse team to provide best practice in Queensland for accepting, acknowledging, assessing, tracking and resolving complaints.

Queenslanders with complaints about Government will have greater transparency about how their complaints are managed.

Quotes attributable to the Premier:

"In September I committed to implementing the clearinghouse and that an independent eminent person would be appointed to chair an oversight board," the Premier said.

"Mr Forde's appointment as that eminent person is an important step in this reform.

"Mr Forde brings with him a wealth of knowledge, with decades of legal and judicial experience, and is well respected for his integrity and his advice.

"The work of Mr Forde will enhance Queensland's strong integrity framework and assure Queenslanders of our Government's commitment to transparency, accountability and integrity."

Quotes attributable to Mr Michael Forde:

"This work is important and will give Queenslander's greater confidence in how complaints are managed across Government.

"I am invested in addressing the current complexity and energised about finding ways to remove confusion and create an easier, transparent and customer centric approach to complaints for all Queenslanders."

Short Biography

A University of Queensland graduate, Mr Michael Forde is a former Queensland District Court judge with over 20 years' legal experience in Queensland and New South Wales.

Mr Forde has acted as a probity adviser and auditor and as a former Director of Transparency International in Australia – an anti-corruption group with both a local and international presence.

He is co-author of the book, Managing procurement: How to avoid corrupting the process, which included discussions on the rights of whistleblowers and the need to protect them.

He was Commissioner for the inquiry into the Queensland Rail New Generation Rollingstock concerning the failure to provide adequate access for people with disability.

He was most recently the Chair of the Queensland Accessible Transport Advisory Council. He is also a qualified mediator.

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Couriermail --> Law change a victory for transparency $

Cabinet documents will be released within 30 days from the first half of 2024, with parliament progressing changes linked to the major reform this week.

While the 30-day release of Cabinet documents can be done through an amendment to the Cabinet handbook, parliament will this week debate associated changes that would ensure ministers are protected from civil proceedings and technical changes to the Right to Information Act to allow the redaction of documents.

Releasing Cabinet documents within 30 days was the most significant recommendation from Peter Coaldrake's 2022 integrity review, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk committed to introduce "lock, stock and barrel". ...

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https://x.com/QueenslandParl1/status/1729652478914810238?s=20

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Couriermail --> Qld Premier Steven Miles meets with Professor Peter Coaldrake $

Premier Steven Miles has met with Peter Coaldrake in his first external meeting since taking the top job.

Mr Miles met Professor Coaldrake in Brisbane on Monday afternoon where the pair discussed his 2022 integrity review and its ongoing implementation.

The Premier's office said it was Mr Miles's first external meeting since being sworn in on Friday morning.

Details of the meeting remain scarce, however Mr Miles's office confirmed the integrity review was discussed in the "general catch-up".

Professor Coaldrake's 2022 integrity review was accepted by the premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who pledged to implement all recommendations "lock, stock and barrel".

It arose from complaints of a culture of fear within the public service, where staff were bullied and were too scared to offer frank advice to ministers' offices.

Ms Palaszczuk faced criticism, however, for declaring a one-stop complaints clearing house was unviable, only to reverse her decision and recommit to the agency. ...

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https://x.com/ozbob13/status/1736744329178452375?s=20

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Couriermail --> Editorial: Steven Miles' big chance to make a difference $

Queensland's Labor government came to life nearly a decade ago with an unequivocal commitment to transparency. Yet it never quite lived up to that noble ideal.

That was apparent even before the release midway through last year of Professor Peter Coaldrake's 131-page report entitled "Let the Sunshine In''.

That report – the commissioning of which came as a result of The Courier-Mail's reporting on the so-called integrity crisis – still represents a worthy attempt to make the internal workings of government more transparent.

Yet it appears there is an ongoing hesitancy inside the ruling Labor Party about its professed commitment to accountability. ...

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Couriermail --> The secret Qld cabinet documents that won't be released despite reform $

Certain secret government documents will have to be kept locked away for two decades despite the implementation of a landmark integrity reform, the government has revealed.

Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch, who is responsible for the state's archives, confirmed a lot of the work to secure the 30-day release of cabinet documents had been finalised and the scheme would come into effect in the first half of 2024.

But the speedy release of cabinet documents will not apply to information deemed of a personal nature or which is security-sensitive. ...

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Couriermail --> Secret cabinet documents to be released after 30 days $

Secret State Cabinet documents will be flung open to Queenslanders in a matter of weeks as the Miles government confirms the date the key recommendation from a landmark integrity review will be enacted.

Matters deliberated on by the state government's cabinet have remained under lock and key for decades, but The Courier-Mail can reveal the 30-day release of previously secret documents will apply for the meeting held on March 25.

This means Queenslanders will be given access to Cabinet document materials by the end of April. ...

" ... "The first documents set for release will be the last Cabinet meeting in March.

"Those documents will be available in April." ...  Premier Miles

Not retrospective ... 

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Couriermail --> Qld Labor govt fails to release cabinet documents as promised $

The state government has missed its own deadline to proactively release Cabinet documents as recommended by Professor Peter Coaldrake's landmark integrity review, after Premier Steven Miles previously promised they would be made public by the end of April.

The Courier-Mail understands documents from the March 25 Cabinet meeting – the first meeting to fall under the new changes – will not be made public until at least May 10, late next week. ...

https://x.com/ozbob13/status/1785723141815480575

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Well well ...

Government Statement

State Government makes history with release of Cabinet papers

2nd May 2024

> https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/100220

Documents published through the Queensland Proactive Release Scheme are published here >

https://cabinet.qld.gov.au/cabinet.aspx

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Government Statement

https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/100886

Queensland steps closer to a complaints clearinghouse model

23rd July 2024

The Miles Government has committed $6.22 million towards undertaking foundational work to establish a complaints clearinghouse, as recommended by the Coaldrake Report.

It comes as Former District Court judge Michael Forde delivered his Queensland Complaints Clearinghouse Governance Project Overview report to government.

In the report, Mr Forde considered design options for a technologically enabled clearinghouse informed by approaches in other jurisdictions, and Queensland's complaints landscape.

He recommended to extend the responsibilities of one of Queensland's integrity bodies, providing additional technology and resources, to be implemented. ...

More > https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/100886