Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move the amendment as circulated in my name:

(1) Schedule 1, page 36 (after line 10), after item 5, insert:

5A At the end of section 21

Add:

(3) The Governor-General must not appoint a person as an Ombudsman for the purposes of holding the office of National Student Ombudsman unless:

(a) the Governor-General is satisfied that the selection of the person for the appointment:

(i) included assessment of applications against the selection criteria by an independent panel consisting of at least 3 members and chaired by a former judge; and

(ii) included shortlisting of at least 3 persons for the appointment that are certified, in writing, by the panel to meet all of the selection criteria; and

(b) the person was shortlisted for the appointment by an independent panel in accordance with subparagraph (a)(ii).

The amendments I'm introducing to this bill today seek to do something specific and simple, something I've been advocating for since I was elected to this place, and that is to ensure that significant public institutions are run by people who have been independently appointed to run them, not by people who've been appointed because they know someone who knows someone, and not people who will owe something to a minister who appointed them and who therefore may feel a sense of obligation to do that minister's bidding.

At the last election, the Australian public sent a very clear message to politicians of all stripes: they wanted integrity and they wanted transparency. They wanted to see our democratic infrastructure strengthened and they wanted the jobs-for-mates culture to end. Having heard that message, in February 2023 I introduced a private member's bill, the Transparent and Quality Public Appointments Bill 2023, otherwise referred to as my 'ending jobs for mates bill'. This bill aims to transform the process of appointments to major Commonwealth positions. Underlying the bill was the critical and urgent need to restore the public's trust in our democratic processes and institutions after a decade of cronyism and party political appointments had eroded that trust.

My 'ending jobs for mates' bill was designed in collaboration with the Centre for Public Integrity to ensure that all major Commonwealth public appointments could be made with an independent and transparent framework. My 'ending jobs for mates' bill would legislate a public appointments commissioner and departmental independent selection panels, overseen by a parliamentary joint committee on appointments. The committee overseeing the public appointments commissioner and the ISPs would not have a government led majority, guaranteeing independence from the government of the day.

Under my bill, a degree of ministerial discretion would be maintained—an important element of our Westminster system of government—as the final decision regarding the successful candidate would remain with the relevant minister. However, the minister may only choose from the shortlist of candidates selected by the independent selection panel. Such a framework would ensure that key positions in our democratic institutions are filled through an independent, transparent and expertise based appointment process. It would be much easier, of course, if the government would just embrace my bill, instead of me having to move these amendments every time an important new position, like the National Student Ombudsman, is created. Perhaps we'll eventually get there.

In the absence of an overarching framework of the kind I propose in my bill, I'm again putting forward amendments which would ensure that an independent panel is established to appointment the ombudsman. The panel would be chaired by a former judge and would require, first of all, a merit based selection, require advertising of the position with selection criteria and require the minister to choose from this shortlist of three candidates determined by the panel to be qualified for the job.

The creation of the National Student Ombudsman is an important step forward. It will provide a trauma informed complaints mechanism for higher education students to use when they are not satisfied by their higher education provider's response. It will deal with a wide range of issues, from student safety to complaints about the services offered by higher education providers. It should be independent and impartial, and it should not be tainted by any whiff of political influence. My amendment will make a good institution even more robust, even more independent and even more trustworthy. I urge the government to consider this amendment.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Section 21AB of the bill provides that the office of National Student Ombudsman is to be held by the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Commonwealth Ombudsman may then appoint someone to act as the National Student Ombudsman. An appointment of a person to this office within the Commonwealth Ombudsman is subject to the Australian Public Service Commission's merit and transparency guidelines. These guidelines require that a transparent and merit based selection process be undertaken to fill vacancies in the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Under these guidelines, the merit based selection must include (1) public advertising of the vacancy; (2) convening of a selection panel consisting of, at a minimum, the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department and the Public Service Commissioner or their representatives; (3) assessment of candidates against selection criteria by the selection panel; and (4) preparation of a report endorsed by the Public Service Commissioner, recommending shortlisted candidates for the Attorney-General's consideration.

The proposed amendment would duplicate the existing transparent and merit based appointment process for the Commonwealth Ombudsman and, consequently, for the National Student Ombudsman. It would also introduce inconsistencies in the appointment process for the National Student Ombudsman and the Commonwealth Ombudsman which would be ineffective in practice as these offices are held by the same person.

The amendment would also result in a person's suitability to hold the office of National Student Ombudsman being assessed in a different way from that person's suitability to hold the office of Commonwealth Ombudsman as well as other statutory offices held by the Commonwealth Ombudsman—for example, the Overseas Students Ombudsman and the VET Student Loans Ombudsman. The office of National Student Ombudsman will be established on commencement. The proposed amendment may also cast doubt on whether the Commonwealth Ombudsman can validly perform the functions of the National Student Ombudsman. For these reasons the government will not be supporting the amendment from the member for Mackellar.

Question negatived.

Bill agreed to.