Refining the Australian Public Service Values

Australian Human Rights Commission
Submission to the Australian Public Service Commission

2 August 2010

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Table of Contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Recommendations
• 3 Summary
• 4 Why should consideration of human rights be included in the APS Values?
• 5 What did the National Human Rights Consultation find regarding human rights and the public sector?
• 6 What additional measures are required to ensure adequate consideration of human rights by the APS?
  

1 Introduction

1. The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) makes this
   submission to the Australian Public Service Commission consultation regarding
   Refining the Australian Public Service Values.

2. The Commission welcomes this review of the Australian Public Service Values
   (APS Values) following the release of the Blueprint for Public Service Reform
   developed by the Advisory Group on Reform of Australian Government
   Administration. In particular the Commission welcomes the commitment of the
   Australian Government to consider revising the APS Values to affirm the
   importance of including consideration of human rights in policy
   making.^[1]

3. The Commission discussed potential amendments to the APS Values in its
   submission to the National Human Rights
   Consultation.^[2] This submission draws on that earlier work.

2 Recommendations

4. The Australian Human Rights Commission
   recommends:

   Recommendation 1: The Australian Public Service
   Values should articulate the responsibility of the public sector to respect
   human rights.

   Recommendation 2: The revision of the Australian Public Service Values
   to include the responsibility to respect human rights should be accompanied by a
   comprehensive public sector human rights education program.

   Recommendation 3: All federal government agencies should take steps to
   ensure that they respect human rights by:

   • preparing internal human rights action plans
   • reporting on human rights compliance in their annual report.

3 Summary

5. The Commission’s submission to the National Human Rights Consultation
   observed that a good system of human rights protection involves consideration of
   human rights at all levels, and by all branches, of government, with the aim of
   preventing human rights breaches.

6. One of the key building blocks of such a system is Australian Government
   decision-makers who respect human rights when implementing laws, developing
   policy and delivering public services.

7. The Commission believes that:

   • respect for human rights should be at the core of public service

   • human rights should be incorporated into public sector practices and
     procedures.

8. The Commission believes that the responsibility of public servants to
   respect and promote human rights in the performance of their duties should be
   articulated in the APS Values. This would greatly assist in integrating respect
   for human rights into the culture of the Australian public service.

4 Why should
consideration of human rights be included in the APS Values?

9. The APS is at the front line of the Australian Government’s
   interaction with people throughout Australia. Public authorities, such as
   Centrelink and Medicare, make many day-to-day decisions that impact on
   people’s lives.

10. The Commission believes that requiring the public sector to consider and
    respect human rights would have a strong and positive impact on both the
    development of policy and the delivery of services. Public authorities would
    become more conscious of the impact their decisions might have on the rights of
    individuals and of their responsibility to ensure that these rights are
    respected. This greater awareness and understanding could prevent human rights
    breaches from occurring.

11. The Commission notes that the Australian Government’s support for
    fostering human rights awareness in the Commonwealth public sector was outlined
    in the Human Rights Framework:

    The Australian Government believes in
    a strong and apolitical public service with a values-driven culture that retains
    public trust and puts people first. A greater focus on human rights is important
    to ensure service delivery is focused on the people receiving the services.

12. The Human Rights Framework also states that:

    The Government
    expects public sector officials to act consistently with human rights. It
    believes this is an important obligation bearing on their conduct and
    professionalism.

13. Finally, the Human Rights Framework observes that providing appropriate
    information and knowledge about human rights ‘will have a positive impact
    on the development and implementation of Commonwealth policies, programs and
    services’.^[3]

4.1 Consideration of human rights should improve
law-making and policy development processes

14. Including a responsibility for the public sector to respect human rights
    within the APS Values will contribute to better consideration of human rights in
    law-making and policy development processes.

15. The Commission believes that many human rights problems could be avoided if
    human rights were actively considered in the earliest stages of law and
    policy-making. In other words, some human rights breaches may not occur if law
    and policy makers were required to consider the potential human rights impacts
    of policies and laws before they finalised them.

16. In its submission to the National Human Rights Consultation, the Commission
    recommended a range of measures to ensure that human rights are adequately taken
    into account during law and policy-making, including that:

    • any policy submission put to federal Cabinet should be accompanied by a
      human rights impact statement

    • every bill introduced to Parliament should be accompanied by a statement of
      human rights compatibility

    • every bill should be scrutinised by a specialist parliamentary Human Rights
      Committee.

17. The Commission welcomed the recent introduction of the Human Rights
    (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bill 2010 and the Human Rights (Parliamentary
    Scrutiny) (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2010 that establish a Joint
    Parliamentary Committee and include a requirement that bills introduced to
    Parliament be accompanied by a statement of human rights compatibility.

18. Including a responsibility for the public sector to respect human rights
    within the APS Values will assist in embedding the responsibility of the APS to
    respect human rights when developing law and policy.

4.2 Consideration of human rights will improve
public sector service delivery

19. Active consideration of human rights will improve public sector service
    delivery.

20. Experience in the UK has shown that ‘[h]uman rights principles can
    help decision-makers and others see seemingly intractable problems in a new
    light’.^[4] This is because active consideration of human rights provides a framework to
    analyse, understand and ultimately resolve issues that may have at first seemed
    to be
    unresolvable.^[5]

21. This framework should improve public service delivery by leading to more
    individualised solutions. This should reduce the level of complaints received
    and increase the effectiveness of the service.

22. In this way, consideration of human rights would positively impact on the
    lives of people in Australia in their regular, day-to-day contact with
    government departments and public services. It would strengthen
    Australia’s human rights culture both in government and the general
    community.

23. Including a responsibility for the public sector to respect human rights
    within the APS Values will assist in ensuring that human rights are always
    considered in the delivery of public services.

5 What did the National
Human Rights Consultation find regarding human rights and the public
sector?

24. During 2009, the National Human Rights Consultation Committee conducted a
    comprehensive consultation regarding the protection and promotion of human
    rights in Australia.

25. The Consultation Committee made a range of findings relevant to the revision
    of the APS Values. The Committee found significant concern amongst participants
    for the ‘dignity of their fellow Australians, especially people with
    mental illness, the elderly, people with disabilities, people living in rural
    and remote areas (particularly in remote Indigenous communities) and children in
    need’.^[6]

26. The Consultation Committee observed that during consultations:

    it became clear that many of the human rights difficulties that do
    arise occur when ordinary members of the public have contact with public sector
    decision makers and service providers. Be it the Centrelink office, a police
    station, an aged care facility, a hospital outpatients department or an
    immigration centre, the public sector has an important role to play in
    safeguarding human rights ...^[7]

27. The Consultation Committee reported that it heard ‘strong support for
    the development of a human rights culture in the public sector’ and
    observed that ‘it was felt that this would lead to better integration of
    human rights in the development of legislation and policy, in administrative
    decision making, and in service
    delivery’.^[8]

28. The Committee found that there is a need for:

    • a better understanding of and a commitment to human rights within government
      – in policy and legislative development and in service delivery ^[9]

    • better integration of human rights considerations into the development of
      legislation and policy and in the parliamentary
      processes.^[10]

29. The Consultation Committee concluded that developing a culture of human
    rights in the public service would offer significant
    advantages:

    Instilling a human rights culture in the federal public
    sector is integral to better protection and promotion of human rights in
    Australia. It would offer a number of advantages, among them better
    identification and resolution of human rights considerations in the development
    and implementation of policy and legislation; incorporation of human rights
    considerations in administrative decision making; and an approach to service
    delivery that better accommodates and responds to human rights concerns in the
    community.^[11]

30. Measures that the Consultation Committee recommended include:

    • incorporating human rights compliance in the Australian Public Service
      Values and Code of Conduct

    • requiring federal government departments and agencies to develop human
      rights action plans, and report on human rights compliance in their annual
      reports.^[12]

6 What additional
measures are required to ensure adequate consideration of human rights by the
APS?

31. The Commission agrees with the Consultation Committee that the following
    steps would assist the public sector to adequately consider human rights in both
    developing policy and delivering services:

    • better education of the public sector about human rights

    • the development of human rights action plans by federal government
      departments and agencies

    • reporting on human rights compliance in federal government agency annual
      reports.

6.1 Public sector human rights
education

32. In order to be effective, the revision of the APS Values to include respect
    for human rights should be accompanied by a comprehensive education program.
    Effective human rights education will provide APS officers with the requisite
    knowledge and skills to adequately consider human rights.

33. The Consultation Committee recommended that education be the highest
    priority for improving and promoting human rights in
    Australia.^[13] In particular, it
    noted strong public support for better education of public officials who
    exercise powers of investigation, arrest and detention and perform other duties
    that are likely to adversely affect the rights and freedoms of ordinary
    Australians.^[14]

34. The Commission welcomed the announcement that public sector human rights
    education is a priority within the Human Rights Framework:

    The
    Commonwealth public sector education and training package will:

    • raise awareness and understanding of human rights obligations

    • strengthen the capacity of policy and legal officers to develop policies,
      programs and legislation that are consistent with human rights, and

    • provide guidance to administrative decision makers on relevant human rights
      considerations to take into
      account.^[15]

35. The Commission looks forward to working with the Australian Government in
    implementing a public sector human rights education program.

6.2 Human rights action plans and public sector
reporting on human rights compliance

36. The Commission also believes that public sector service delivery would be
    enhanced by the development of effective human rights action plans and by
    reporting on human rights compliance.

37. Adequate planning, auditing and reporting procedures are essential for the
    incorporation of human rights values into policy development and service
    delivery.

38. The Consultation Committee noted strong support for the development of human
    rights action plans. The Consultation Committee supported measures that involve
    greater human rights planning and compliance reporting by the federal public
    sector and suggested that periodic human rights audits of specific agencies and
    their practices would provide a useful measure for ensuring greater transparency
    and public accountability.^[16]

39. Human rights action plans should specify how each department or agency
    intends to embed the consideration of human rights into their policies,
    procedures and practice. Human rights action plans should then become the
    assessment and reporting framework for potential audits or annual reports on
    compliance with human rights.

40. The Commission notes the commitment in the Human Rights Framework to the
    development of a National Action Plan on Human
    Rights.^[17] Departmental human
    rights action plans could form the basis of a National Action Plan on Human
    Rights.

^[1] Commonwealth of Australia, Australia’s Human Rights Framework, April 2010, p 6; Commonwealth
of Australia, Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government
Administration, p 41.

^[2] Australian Human Rights Commission, Submission to the National Human Rights
Consultation (June 2009), paras 438-441. At http://www.humanrights.gov.au/legal/submissions/2009/200906_NHRC_complete.pdf (viewed 30 July 2010).

^[3] Australia’s Human Rights Framework, note 1, p
6.

^[4] The British Institute of
Human Rights, The Human Rights Act: Changing Lives (2008), p 5. At http://www.bihr.org.uk/sites/default/files/The%20Human%20Rights%20Act%20-%20Changing%20Lives.pdf (viewed 7 June 2009).

^[5] Victorian
Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, The 2007 Report on the
Operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities: First steps
forward (2008), p 6. At http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/publications/annual%20reports/2008charterreport.asp (viewed 4 June 2009).

^[6] Commonwealth of Australia, National Human Rights Consultation Report,
September 2009, p 343.

^[7] National Human Rights Consultation Report, above, p
143.

^[8] National Human Rights
Consultation Report, above, p 180.

^[9] National Human Rights
Consultation Report, above, p
149-150.

^[10] National Human
Rights Consultation Report, above, p
356.

^[11] National Human
Rights Consultation Report, above, p
186.

^[12] National Human
Rights Consultation Report, above, p
359.

^[13] National Human
Rights Consultation Report, above, p
353.

^[14] National Human
Rights Consultation Report, above, p
354.

^[15] Australia’s
Human Rights Framework, note 1, p
6.

^[16] National Human Rights
Consultation Report, note 6, p
185.

^[17] Australia’s
Human Rights Framework, note 1, p 7.