Peter Gutwein,Premier
Today I have tabled the State Service Review Interim Report which outlines a number of issues to be considered by the Review over the medium term.
The release of the Interim Report follows on from PESRAC recommendation no.64 that the review should recommence immediately.
As I’ve said before, it has never been more important to ensure that the Tasmanian State Service is able to provide the leadership, advice and support required to ensure Tasmania thrives on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Interim Report highlights the many strengths of our State Service – including good people, committed to providing high quality services to Tasmanians.
It also provides some early insights into lessons learnt from the recent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, given the need for State Service employees to be flexible and agile in their response during this challenging time.
It also highlights the significant transformation that the State Service will need to undergo to successfully respond to future demands in the coming years.
The Tasmanian Government believes it’s time we began operating as One State Service, working together to share resources and to be accountable for delivering outcomes across the whole of government, as well as individual agencies.
The Interim Report also recommends a move to a facilitative employment framework which enables contemporary recruitment and workforce planning practices to provide an operating environment capable of meeting the needs of the government, the Tasmanian community and the 31,000 employees in the State Service.
The Report clearly identifies the role of contemporary service delivery options including face-to-face, over the phone and on-line. Importantly, there are many initiatives in the 2020-21 State Budget that support this direction, including $57 million for the whole-of-government Digital Transformation Expenditure Program.
The Report contains a small number of recommendations, however given the bulk of the Reviews’ recommendations will be made in the Final Report, the Government will respond to all recommendations at the same time.
The Report will form the basis of further consultation with stakeholders prior to a final report being provided to the Government in March 2021.
A copy of the Report can be found here: https://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/policy/review_of_the_tasmanian_state_service
