Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act 2010
Queensland Ministerial
and Other Office
Holder Staff
Act 2010 Current as at [Not
applicable] Indicative reprint note This is an
unofficial version of a
reprint of this Act that incorporates all proposed
amendments to
the Act included
in the Ministerial and
Other Office
Holder Staff
and Other Legislation Amendment
Bill 2018. This
indicative reprint
has been prepared
for information only—
it is
not an authorised reprint of the Act
. The point-in-time date for this
indicative reprint is the introduction date for the
Ministerial and
Other Office
Holder Staff
and Other Legislation Amendment Bill
2018—15 May 2018. Detailed information about
indicative reprints
is available on
the Information page of the
Queensland legislation website.
©
State of Queensland 2018 This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Not authorised —indicative only
Queensland Ministerial and
Other Office Holder Staff Act 2010 Contents
Part
1 1 2 3
4 Part 2 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 Part 2A
Division 1 13A
Division 2 13B
13C 13D 13E
Division 3 13F
13G Page Preliminary Short title . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 5 Commencement . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Dictionary . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 5 Main purposes . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Employment of staff members Functions of staff member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Employment of
ministerial staff member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Employment of
staff member
of Leader
of the Opposition . . . . . 6
Employment of
staff member
of other
non-government
member 6 No entitlement to
staffing of
office .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Basis of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Nature of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Superannuation .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Preservation of
public service
employee’s
rights . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Assessing suitability to be a staff member
Preliminary Definitions for
part .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Obtaining criminal histories Chief executive
may ask
for consent
to obtain
criminal history . . 9
Refusing consent
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Obtaining
criminal history with consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
Criminal history no longer required to be obtained
. . . . . . . . . . .
11
Use of criminal
histories and
related matters Assessment of suitability
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Destruction of
reports and
notices .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Contents Not
authorised —indicative
only 13H Division 4
13I 13J 13K
Part
3 Division 1 14
15 Division 2 16
17 18 Division 3
19 20 21
22 Division 4 23
24 25 Part 4
Division 1 26
27 28 29
30 Division 2 31
32 Division 3 33
34 Police commissioner must not use
information given under this part 12
Other matters Prosecuting
authority to notify chief executive about committal,
conviction etc. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 13 False or misleading statements in
consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Confidentiality . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 14 Work performance and conduct of staff members Directions Staff members
subject to
direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Staff members not
empowered to
direct public
service employees 16 Guiding principles and values
Work
performance and personal conduct
principles .
. . . . . . . . . 16
Ethics values
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Purpose and application of
principles and values . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Codes of conduct Codes of conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Purpose of codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Consultation about, and review of, codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Compliance with
codes .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Declaration
of interests
and dealing
with conflicts References
to interest
or conflict
of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Declaration of
interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Conflicts of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Miscellaneous Rulings Chief executive may make directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Relationship with
legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
Relationship between directives
and industrial instruments . . . .
21
Chief executive may make guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
Replaced public
service rulings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Application of
Acts Application
of Crime
and Corruption Act
2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
Application of
Ombudsman Act
2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Other matters Advisory
committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Annual report
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
Page
2
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35 36 37
Part
5 38 39 40
41 42 Schedule
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Contents Delegations . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Effect of Act on the State . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regulation-making power . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transitional Meaning of
commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . Currently appointed staff members
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Declaration of interests of currently appointed staff
members . .
Codes of conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rulings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24 24 25
25 25
25
26
26
28
Page
3
Not authorised— indicative
only
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 1 Preliminary [s 1]
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff
Act 2010 An Act to provide for the employment
and conduct of staff of Ministers and other particular members
of Parliament Part 1 Preliminary 1
Short
title This Act
may be cited
as the Ministerial and
Other Office
Holder Staff Act 2010 .
2 Commencement This Act
commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 3
Dictionary The dictionary
in the schedule defines particular words used in this
Act. 4 Main purposes The main
purposes of this Act are— (a) to provide for
the employment of staff in the offices of particular
members of the Legislative Assembly; and (b)
to
provide for the proper work performance and conduct
of
the staff members. Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
5
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 2 Employment of staff members
[s
5] Part 2 Employment of
staff members Not authorised —indicative
only 5 Functions of
staff member The functions of a staff member are the
functions given to the staff member,
under the
staff member’s
contract of
employment and
by directions mentioned
in section 14, to
help the
employing member
to effectively discharge
the employing member’s duties.
Examples of functions that may be given to a
staff member— • providing advice •
providing administrative support
• developing policy proposals
• for a ministerial staff member,
working with public sector units to implement
government policies • preparing communication
materials • liaising with stakeholders
6 Employment of ministerial staff
member The chief executive may, on the Premier’s
recommendation, employ a person as a staff member in the
office of a stated Minister. 7
Employment of staff member of Leader of the
Opposition The chief executive
may, on
the recommendation of
the Leader of the Opposition, employ a
person as a staff member in the office of the Leader of the
Opposition. 8 Employment of staff member of other
non-government member (1)
This
section applies to a non-government member, other than
the
Leader of the Opposition, who is— (a)
the
leader of a political party; or Page 6
Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 2 Employment of staff members
[s
9] (b) an independent member.
(2) The chief executive may, on the
member’s recommendation, employ a person as a staff member in
the member’s office. 9 No entitlement to staffing of
office Sections 6 to 8 do not confer an entitlement
on any member of the Legislative Assembly
to have a
staff member,
or any particular
number of staff members, employed in the office of
the
member of the Legislative Assembly. Notes—
1 Decisions about
the employment of
staff members
depend on
resources available to the chief executive
for the purpose. 2 The level of need for the employment
of a staff member for a non-government member mentioned in
section 8 may be affected, among other matters, by whether the
member has an increased workload because of the particular
composition of the Legislative Assembly.
10 Basis of employment
(1) The employment of a person as a staff
member is on the terms and conditions stated in the person’s
contract of employment. (2) The contract may
include terms and conditions about any of the following
matters— (a) remuneration; (b)
the
term of employment; (c) ending the
employment before
the end of
the stated term;
(d) suspension from duty or other
disciplinary action. (3) Subsection (2)
does not
limit the
matters that
may be dealt
with
in the stated terms and conditions. (4)
The
employment may be full-time or part-time. (5)
The
employment may be on a temporary or casual basis.
Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
7
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 2 Employment of staff members
[s
11] 11 Nature of employment
A
person employed as a staff member— (a)
does not,
only because
of the employment, become
a public service employee; and
(b) is an
employee for
the Industrial Relations
Act 2016 ;
and (c) is an employee
of the State. Note for paragraph (c)— A delegation may
be made to a staff member under the Financial
Accountability Act 2009 , section
76. 12 Superannuation For the
Superannuation (State Public Sector) Act
1990 , a staff member is taken
to be an employee of the department. 13
Preservation of public service employee’s
rights (1) This section applies if, immediately
before being employed as a staff member, a person was employed
on tenure as a public service employee. (2)
The
person keeps all rights accrued or accruing to the person
as a
public service employee as if service as a staff member
were
a continuation of service as a public service employee.
(3) If the person’s contract of employment
as a staff member ends other than by disciplinary action, or
the contract expires and is not renewed or
replaced by another contract of employment as a staff
member— (a) the person
becomes a
public service
employee employed on
tenure— (i) at the
classification level
at which the
person would
have been
employed if
the person had
continued in
employment as
a public service
employee on tenure; and Page 8
Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 2A Assessing suitability to be a staff
member [s 13A] (ii)
on the remuneration to
which the
person would
have
been entitled if the person had continued in employment as
a public service
employee on
tenure; and (iii)
in the department in
which the
person was
employed immediately before being employed
as a staff member or, if the department has
changed, the department that is the nearest practical
equivalent; and (b) the
person’s service
as a staff
member is
taken to
be service as a public service employee
for working out the person’s rights as a public service
employee. Part 2A Assessing
suitability to be a staff member Division 1
Preliminary 13A
Definitions for part In this
part— criminal history
see the Criminal
Law (Rehabilitation of
Offenders) Act 1986, section 3.
criminal history report means
a report given
under section
13D. Division 2
Obtaining criminal histories
13B Chief executive may ask for consent to
obtain criminal history (1)
If
the chief executive proposes to employ a person as a staff
member, the
chief executive
may ask the
person for
written Current as at
[Not applicable] Page 9
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 2A Assessing suitability to be a staff
member [s 13C] consent for the
chief executive to obtain the person’s criminal history.
(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the
person is employed as a staff member
when the
chief executive
proposes to
employ the
person. 13C
Refusing consent (1)
This section
applies if
the person does
not consent, or
withdraws the
person’s consent,
to the chief
executive obtaining the
person’s criminal history. (2) If
the person is
not employed as
a staff member,
the chief executive
may decide not
to consider the
person for
employment as a staff member.
(3) If the
person is
a staff member,
the person’s employing
member or,
if the person
is a ministerial staff
member, the
Premier, may prevent the person from
performing any further relevant duties. (4)
For
subsection (3), duties are relevant duties if, because of
the nature of
the duties, the
employing member
or Premier considers it may
be necessary to have regard to the criminal history of a
person who is or will be performing the duties. 13D
Obtaining criminal history with
consent (1) This section
applies if
the person gives
the chief executive
written consent to the chief executive
obtaining the person’s criminal history. (2)
The
chief executive may ask the police commissioner for—
(a) a written
report about
the person’s criminal
history; and
(b) a brief description of the
circumstances of a conviction mentioned in the
criminal history. (3) The request may include the
following— Page 10 Current as at
[Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 2A Assessing suitability to be a staff
member [s 13E] (a)
the person’s name
and any other
name the
chief executive
believes the person may use or may have used; (b)
the person’s date
and place of
birth, gender
and address. (4)
The
police commissioner must comply with the request.
(5) However, the duty to comply applies
only to information in the police commissioner’s possession or
to which the
police commissioner has
access. 13E Criminal history no longer required to
be obtained (1) This section applies if—
(a) the chief
executive has,
under section
13D, asked
the police commissioner to give the chief
executive a written report about a person’s criminal history;
and (b) the chief
executive decides
the criminal history
is no longer
required. (2) The chief
executive must,
by written notice,
tell the
police commissioner
that the requested report is no longer required.
(3) If the
police commissioner is
notified as
mentioned in
subsection (2) before the police
commissioner has given the requested report
to the chief
executive, the
police commissioner
must not give it to the chief executive. Division 3
Use
of criminal histories and related matters
13F Assessment of suitability
If the chief
executive obtains
a person’s criminal
history under this part,
the chief executive must— (a) give a copy of
the criminal history to— (i) if
the person is
proposed to
be employed as
a ministerial staff member—the Premier;
or Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
11
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 2A Assessing suitability to be a staff
member [s 13G] (ii)
otherwise—the person’s
proposed employing
member; and (b)
consider the
criminal history,
in consultation with
the member to whom a copy of the criminal
history is given, in making an assessment about the person’s
suitability for employment as a staff member.
13G Destruction of reports and
notices (1) This section applies if—
(a) a criminal
history report
about a
person is
no longer required
to be kept
for the purpose
for which it
was requested under this part; or
(b) a notice given to the chief executive
under section 13I is no longer required to be kept for
assessing a person’s suitability to perform relevant duties
within the meaning of section 13C. (2)
The
chief executive must destroy the report, the notice and any
other document
containing information contained
in the report or
notice. 13H Police commissioner must not use
information given under this part (1)
Information given
to the police
commissioner by
the chief executive
under section
13D(3) must
not be accessed,
disclosed or used for any purpose, other
than a purpose under this part or any other purpose
relevant to law enforcement. (2)
However, subsection (1)
does not
apply to
information obtained
by the police
commissioner before
the chief executive gave
the information under section 13D(3). Page 12
Current as at [Not applicable]
Division 4 Ministerial and
Other Office Holder Staff Act 2010 Part 2A Assessing
suitability to be a staff member [s 13I]
Other matters Not
authorised —indicative only
13I Prosecuting authority to notify chief
executive about committal, conviction etc.
(1) This section applies if the police
commissioner or the director of
public prosecutions (each
a prosecuting authority
) is aware that a
person is employed as a staff member and, after the commencement
of this section, the person is charged with an indictable
offence. (2) If the
person is
committed by
a court for
trial for
the indictable offence,
the prosecuting authority
must, within
7 days after the committal, give notice
to the chief executive of the following— (a)
the
person’s name; (b) the court; (c)
particulars of the offence;
(d) the date of the committal;
(e) the court to which the person was
committed. (3) If the
person is
convicted before
a court of
the indictable offence, the
prosecuting authority must, within 7 days after the
conviction, give notice to the chief
executive of the following— (a)
the
person’s name; (b) the court; (c)
particulars of the offence;
(d) the date of the conviction;
(e) the sentence imposed by the
court. (4) If the person has appealed against the
conviction mentioned in subsection (3)
and the appeal
is finally decided
or has otherwise
ended, the
prosecuting authority
must, within
7 days after the decision or the day the
appeal otherwise ends, give notice to the chief executive of
the following— (a) the person’s name; Current as at
[Not applicable] Page 13
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 2A Assessing suitability to be a staff
member [s 13J] (b)
particulars of the offence;
(c) the date of the decision or other
ending of the appeal; (d) if the appeal
was decided— (i) the court in which it was decided;
and (ii) particulars of
the decision. (5) If the prosecution for the indictable
offence ends without the person being
convicted of
the offence, the
prosecuting authority
must, within
7 days after
the prosecution process
ends, give notice to the chief executive of
the following— (a) the person’s name; (b)
the
court; (c) particulars of the offence;
(d) the date of the committal;
(e) the court to which the person was
committed. (6) For subsection (5), the prosecution
process ends if— (a) an indictment was
presented against
the person but
a nolle prosequi is entered on the
indictment or the person is acquitted; or (b)
the
prosecution process otherwise ends. 13J
False or misleading statements in
consent A person must
not give the
chief executive
a consent mentioned in
section 13B, or another document for this part, that
the person knows
contains information that
is false or
misleading in a material particular.
Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.
13K Confidentiality (1)
If a person
obtains criminal
history information in
carrying out
functions or
performing duties
as the chief
executive, a
Minister, the
Leader of
the Opposition, a
non-government Page 14
Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 3 Work performance and conduct of staff
members [s 14] member or a
staff member, the person must not disclose the criminal
history information to
any other person
unless the
disclosure is permitted under subsection
(2). Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.
(2) A person is permitted to disclose
criminal history information about an
individual to another person— (a)
if
the other person is the chief executive, a Minister, the
Leader of the Opposition, a non-government
member or a staff member,
for the purpose
of assessing the
individual’s suitability for
employment as
a staff member;
or (b) with the individual’s consent;
or (c) if the
disclosure is
otherwise required
or permitted under an
Act. (3) In this section— criminal history
information means information contained in
the
following— (a) a criminal history report;
(b) a notice given to the chief executive
under section 13I. Part 3 Work performance
and conduct of staff members Division 1
Directions 14
Staff
members subject to direction (1)
A
ministerial staff member is subject to the direction of his
or her employing member and the Premier.
(2) A staff
member other
than a
ministerial staff
member is
subject to the direction of his or her
employing member. Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
15
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 3 Work performance and conduct of staff
members [s 15] (3)
A
staff member may also be subject to the direction of other
persons under the staff member’s contract of
employment (for example, a more senior staff member).
15 Staff members not empowered to direct
public service employees (1)
A
public service employee is not subject to the direction of a
staff member. (2)
Subsection (1) does
not prevent a
staff member
giving a
direction to a public service employee on
behalf of a person who may lawfully give the direction.
Example of a person who may lawfully give a
direction to a public service employee—
The
Minister administering a department may give a direction to
the chief executive of the department under
the Public Service Act 2008 ,
section 100. Division 2
Guiding principles and values
16 Work performance and personal conduct
principles A staff member’s
work performance and
personal conduct
must
be directed towards— (a) acting honestly,
fairly and in the public interest; and (b)
ensuring the effective, efficient and
appropriate use of public resources; and (c)
interacting with public service employees
respectfully, collaboratively and with integrity;
and (d) observing all
laws relevant
to the staff
member’s employment;
and (e) ensuring the staff member’s personal
conduct does not reflect adversely
on the reputation of
his or her
employing member; and Page 16
Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 3 Work performance and conduct of staff
members [s 17] (f)
complying with any code of conduct that
applies to the staff member under division 3.
17 Ethics values (1)
The
ethics values stated in the Public Sector
Ethics Act 1994 , part 3, division 2 apply to staff
members as if a reference in the division to
a public official included a staff member. (2)
However, ethics values about providing
advice, or acting in relation to policies, apply to staff
members subject to the way they may
reasonably be
expected to
honestly and
properly carry out their
functions helping Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition or
other non-government members. Examples—
1 A staff member’s function may include
providing advice that is not apolitical. 2
The functions of
a staff member
employed in
the office of
a non-government member may not be
directed towards developing or giving effect
to policies of the government. (3)
In
this section— policies includes
priorities and decisions. 18 Purpose and
application of principles and values (1)
The principles and
values applying
to staff members
under sections
16 and 17
are intended to
guide staff
members in
their work performance and personal conduct
and are not of themselves legally enforceable.
(2) The chief
executive may
have regard
to the principles and
values when making a decision under this Act
relating to the work performance or personal conduct of
staff members. Example of a decision for subsection
(2)— a decision about including a particular
condition in a staff member’s contract of
employment Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
17
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 3 Work performance and conduct of staff
members [s 19] Division 3
Codes of conduct Not
authorised —indicative
only 19 Codes of
conduct (1) The chief executive may approve a code
of conduct applying to— (a) ministerial
staff members; or (b) staff members employed in the office
of the Leader of the Opposition; or (c)
staff members employed under section
8. (2) In deciding whether to approve a code
of conduct, the chief executive must have regard to the
principles and ethics values applying to
staff members under division 2. (3)
Subsection (1) applies subject to section
21(2). 20 Purpose of codes The purpose of a
code of conduct is to provide standards of conduct for the
staff members to whom it applies. 21
Consultation about, and review of,
codes (1) For this
section, the
relevant person
for a code
of conduct is—
(a) for a
code applying
to ministerial staff
members—the Premier;
or (b) for a code applying to staff members
employed in the office of the Leader of the Opposition—the
Leader of the Opposition; or (c)
for
a code applying to staff members employed under section
8—each person
who is an
employing member
for
a staff member employed under section 8. (2)
The
chief executive must consult with the relevant person, or
each
relevant person, for a code of conduct before approving
the
code under section 19. Page 18 Current as at
[Not applicable]
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Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 3 Work performance and conduct of staff
members [s 22] (3)
The chief executive
must review
a code of
conduct if
requested by
a person who
is, at the
time of
the request, a
relevant person for the code.
22 Compliance with codes
(1) A staff
member must
comply with
an approved code
of conduct that applies to the staff
member. (2) Contravention of
an approved code
of conduct by
a staff member may give
rise to disciplinary action under the staff member’s
contract of employment. Division 4 Declaration of
interests and dealing with conflicts 23
References to interest or conflict of
interest A reference in this division to an interest
or to a conflict of interest is a reference to those matters
within their ordinary meaning under the general law, and, in
relation to an interest, the definition in the
Acts
Interpretation Act 1954 , schedule 1, does not
apply. 24 Declaration of interests
(1) A staff
member must
give his
or her employing
member a
statement about the staff member’s
interests— (a) within 1 month after starting
employment; and (b) whenever there
is a change
to the staff
member’s interests that
is of a type prescribed under a directive of the chief
executive; and (c) during June in each year.
(2) The statement must include the
information required under a directive of the
chief executive. Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
19
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 4 Miscellaneous [s 25]
(3) The statement required under
subsection (1)(b) must be given as soon as
practicable after the relevant facts about the change
come
to the staff member’s knowledge. Not
authorised —indicative
only 25 Conflicts of
interest (1) If a staff member has an interest that
conflicts or may conflict with the discharge of the staff
member’s responsibilities, the staff
member— (a) must disclose the nature of the
interest and conflict to his or
her employing member
as soon as
practicable after
the relevant facts
come to
the staff member’s
knowledge; and (b)
must not
take action
or further action
concerning a
matter that is, or may be, affected by the
conflict unless authorised by his or her employing
member. (2) The employing
member for
a staff member
may direct the
staff member to resolve a conflict or
possible conflict between an interest
of the staff
member and
the staff member’s
responsibilities. Part 4
Miscellaneous Division 1
Rulings 26
Chief
executive may make directives (1)
The
chief executive may, by gazette notice, make a directive
about a matter relating to the employment of
staff members, including, for example, a directive about
standards of conduct applying to staff members.
(2) A directive may provide for a matter
by applying, adopting or incorporating the provisions of a
public service directive, as in force
at a particular time
or from time
to time, with
any necessary changes
to apply the
public service
directive in
Page
20 Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 4 Miscellaneous [s 27]
relation to
staff members,
and with or
without any
other modification. (3)
A
directive binds the persons to whom it applies. (4)
In
this section— public service
directive means
a directive made
under the
Public Service Act 2008 .
27 Relationship with legislation
If a directive
is inconsistent with
an Act or
subordinate legislation, the
Act or subordinate legislation prevails to the extent of the
inconsistency. 28 Relationship between directives and
industrial instruments (1)
This
section applies if a directive deals with a matter all or
part
of which is dealt with under an industrial instrument of
the
IRC. (2) The directive prevails over the
industrial instrument, unless a regulation
provides otherwise. (3) In this section— directive
includes a
decision made
in the exercise
of a discretion under
a directive. IRC means the
Industrial Relations
Commission under
the Industrial Relations Act 2016
. 29 Chief executive
may make guidelines (1) The chief
executive may
make a
guideline about
a matter relating to the
employment of staff members. (2)
A guideline may
be made in
the way the
chief executive
considers appropriate. (3)
A
guideline may provide for a matter by applying, adopting or
incorporating the provisions of a public
service guideline, as Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
21
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 4 Miscellaneous [s 30]
in
force at a particular time or from time to time, with any
necessary changes
to apply the
public service
guideline in
relation to
staff members,
and with or
without any
other modification. (4)
A
guideline is for the guidance only of the persons to whom it
applies. (5)
In
this section— public service
guideline means
a guideline made
under the
Public Service Act 2008 .
30 Replaced public service rulings
(1) This section
applies if,
under section
26(2) or
29(3), a
directive or
guideline provides
for a matter
by applying, adopting or
incorporating the provisions of a public service
ruling (the first public
service ruling ). (2) The directive or
guideline may provide that, if the first public service
ruling is
repealed and
a new public
service ruling
dealing with substantially the same subject
matter is made to replace it, the directive or guideline
continues to operate as if a reference
in it to
the first public
service ruling
were a
reference to the new public service
ruling. (3) In this section— public
service ruling
means a
public service
directive or
public service
guideline made
under the
Public Service
Act 2008 .
Division 2 Application of
Acts 31 Application of Crime and Corruption
Act 2001 For the Crime
and Corruption Act
2001 ,
a staff member
is taken to hold an appointment in the
department. Page 22 Current as at
[Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 4 Miscellaneous [s 32]
32 Application of Ombudsman Act
2001 For the Ombudsman Act
2001 , a staff member is taken to be
an
officer of the department. Division 3 Other
matters 33 Advisory committees
(1) The chief
executive may
establish advisory
committees to
advise the Premier on issues relevant to
this Act. (2) The chief executive may appoint a
person as a member of an advisory committee
if the chief
executive is
satisfied the
person has skills or experience appropriate
to the committee’s terms of reference or functions.
(3) A member
of an advisory
committee is
entitled to
the remuneration and allowances, if any,
stated in the member’s terms of appointment.
(4) The chief
executive may
decide matters
about an
advisory committee
that are
not provided for
under this
section including, for
example, the
way a committee
must conduct
meetings or report to the Premier.
34 Annual report (1)
At the end
of each financial
year, the
chief executive
must prepare and give
to the Premier a report about the operation of this Act during
the financial year. (2) The report
must include
details of
the staff members
employed under this Act for all or part of
the financial year. (3) The chief executive must give the
report to the Premier by an agreed date that
allows the Premier to table the report under this
section. (4) The report may be included in the
department’s annual report for the financial year.
Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
23
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 4 Miscellaneous [s 35]
Note— The
Financial Accountability Act
2009 ,
section 63 states
the requirement for tabling the
department’s annual report. (5)
If
the report is not included in the department’s annual report
for
the financial year, the Premier must table the report in the
Legislative Assembly
within 3
months after
the end of
the financial year. 35
Delegations (1)
The Premier may
delegate the
Premier’s functions
under section
6 to an
appropriately qualified
ministerial staff
member. (2)
The chief executive
may delegate the
chief executive’s functions under
this Act to an appropriately qualified public service
employee. (3) In this section— appropriately qualified
includes having
the qualifications, experience or
standing appropriate for the function. Example of
standing for a public service employee— the employee’s
classification or level in a department functions
includes powers. 36
Effect of Act on the State
(1) Subject to subsection (3), this Act
binds the State. (2) The chief
executive employs
persons under
this Act
as the authorised agent
of the State. (3) The right or power of the State
recognised at common law to dispense with
the services of a person employed by the State is not abrogated
or restricted by any provision of this Act. Page 24
Current as at [Not applicable]
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 5 Transitional [s 37]
37 Regulation-making power
The Governor in
Council may
make regulations under
this Act.
Not authorised —indicative only
Part
5 Transitional 38
Meaning of commencement In this
part— commencement means the
commencement of the provision in which the term
appears. 39 Currently appointed staff
members (1) This section applies to a person who,
immediately before the commencement, was employed by the
chief executive under a contract of
employment under
the Public Service
Act 2008 ,
section 147 or 148 in the office of a
Minister or the office of the Leader of the Opposition.
(2) The person is not, only because of
that employment, a public service employee. (3)
While the person continues to be employed
under the contract of employment— (a)
the
person is a staff member; and (b)
this Act
applies to
the person as
if the contract
of employment had been entered into under
this Act. 40 Declaration of interests of currently
appointed staff members (1)
A
staff member mentioned in section 39 must give his or her
employing member
a statement complying
with section
24 within 1 month after the
commencement. (2) However, subsection (1) does not apply
if— Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
25
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Part 5 Transitional [s 41]
(a) the staff member gave a complying
statement to his or her employing member on or after 1 June last
occurring before the commencement; and
(b) there has been no material change to
the staff member’s interests since the last complying statement
given to the employing member. (3)
In
this section— complying statement
means a
statement, given
before the
commencement, that
included all
information of
the type required to be
included in a statement under section 24 given immediately
after the commencement. material change
means a
change of
the type mentioned
in section 24(1)(b)
as in force
immediately after
the commencement. 41
Codes
of conduct (1) A current code of conduct has effect,
from the commencement until it is revoked under this Act, as
if it were approved under part 3, division 3.
(2) In this section— current code of
conduct means a code of conduct that—
(a) is expressed to apply to—
(i) persons employed in ministerial
offices; or (ii) persons employed
in the office of the Leader of the Opposition;
and (b) was approved
by the Premier
before the
commencement; and (c)
was in force
immediately before
the commencement under
administrative arrangements. 42
Rulings (1)
This
section applies to a ruling (a current
ruling ) that— Page 26
Current as at [Not applicable]
Not authorised —indicative only
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Part 5 Transitional [s 42]
(a) was made under the Public Service
Act 2008 before the commencement;
and (b) immediately before
the commencement, applied
to a person employed
by the chief executive under a contract of
employment under
the Public Service
Act 2008 ,
section 147
or 148 in
the office of
a Minister or
the office of the Leader of the
Opposition. (2) Subject to subsection (3), the current
ruling applies in relation to staff
members, during
the transitional period,
as if a
reference in it to a public service employee
included a staff member and with any other necessary
changes. (3) The current ruling stops applying in
relation to staff members under subsection (2) if—
(a) the current
ruling is
revoked under
the Public Service
Act
2008 ; or (b)
the
chief executive makes a directive under section 26 or
guideline under
section 29,
whichever is
relevant, ending the
application of the current ruling in relation to
staff members. (4)
This section
does not
affect the
chief executive’s power
to make a directive under section 26 or
guideline under section 29 applying
a current ruling
in relation to
staff members
during or after the transitional
period. (5) A reference in this Act to a directive
of the chief executive includes a
directive under
the Public Service
Act 2008 applying in
relation to a staff member under this section. (6)
In
this section— transitional period means the period
of 3 months starting on the commencement. Current as at
[Not applicable] Page 27
Not authorised —indicative
only Ministerial and Other Office Holder
Staff Act 2010 Schedule Schedule
Dictionary section 3
Assistant Minister
means a
member of
the Legislative Assembly
appointed as
an Assistant Minister
under the
Constitution of Queensland 2001
,
section 24. commencement , for part 5,
see section 38. criminal history , for part 2A,
see section 13A. criminal history report , for part 2A,
see section 13A. directive ,
of the chief
executive, includes
a public service
directive to the extent it applies in
relation to a staff member under section 26(2).
employing member , for a staff
member, means the Minister or other member of
the Legislative Assembly in whose office the staff member is
employed. independent member means a
non-government member who is not a member of the political party
to which the Leader of the Opposition belongs.
Leader of
the Opposition means
the member of
the Legislative Assembly recognised in the
Legislative Assembly as the Leader of the
Opposition. Minister includes an
Assistant Minister. ministerial staff member means a person
employed under this Act as a staff member in the office of a
Minister. non-government member means a member
of the Legislative Assembly who is not a member of a political
party recognised in the Legislative Assembly as being in
government. police commissioner means
the commissioner of
the police service under
the Police Service Administration Act 1990. remuneration includes
salary. Page 28 Current as at
[Not applicable]
Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act
2010 Schedule staff
member means a person employed under this Act as
a staff member
in the office
of a Minister,
the Leader of
the Opposition or another non-government
member. Not authorised —indicative only
Current as at [Not applicable]
Page
29