Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In most workplaces, whether it's a small business—it doesn't matter what type, like manufacturing, retail or hospitality—whether it's a busy office, whether it's an aged-care home where people are caring for our oldest Australians, whether it's a manufacturing facility or whether it's a large corporate organisation, the integrity and accountability of the leadership are the guiding principles that determine how people feel. They determine how decisions are made, and they determine how smoothly things operate.

Integrity in the workplace means acting ethically. It means acting honestly. It means being honest in communication and making decisions that align with organisational values. Accountability means taking responsibility for actions, decisions and outcomes. It relies on clear expectations and the willingness to own results, whether positive or negative. It's not about blame; it's about learning, improving and maintaining transparency. Together, integrity, accountability and leadership create workplaces that function smoothly, build trust and deliver better outcomes. They strengthen culture, guide behaviour and form the foundation of organisations that are respected by the employees, the community and customers.

When it comes to workplaces, Labor has always been the driver of better and safer workplaces, of fairer workplaces, of workplaces where everyday Australians are treated right. We've seen that in the introduction of such seminal reforms like superannuation, making sure that everyday working people have the ability to put a nest egg away and make sure that they are set up for their future. We saw it in workplace legislation to make working people safer, and we've seen it in the practical real wage increase for working people.

This is true for the range of workplaces I mentioned, and it's also true for organisations led by statutory office holders across the Commonwealth. In fact, the stakes are even higher in the public sector. Government institutions operate under a unique level of scrutiny and a unique level of responsibility. The same principles that strengthen non-government workplaces, that keep them fair, safe and trustworthy, are just as essential, if not more so, in the institutions that serve our communities and uphold the public's confidence.

The Commonwealth Entities Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 highlights the Albanese Labor government's commitment to improving the integrity and accountability of appointments of statutory office holders across the Commonwealth. Statutory office holders play an important role in serving the Australian community. They're given significant authority. They lead organisations, they make key decisions and they approve the use of public funds. With responsibilities of this scale, Australians rightly expect these roles to be carried out with integrity, with good judgement, with accountability and that strong commitment to the public interest and, indeed, in doing so, our national interest.

Because of that, it's crucial that the systems we use to appoint and hold these office holders accountable reflect the workplace standards Australians expect in 2026. Community expectations are evolving, shaped by modern workplace culture, shaped by stronger calls for transparency and a focus on ethical leadership. Our frameworks need to keep pace with these expectations so we can maintain that trust, so we can support effective governance and ensure those in these roles are equipped to be recognised for the important work that they do, day in and day out.

This bill updates the appointment arrangements across the Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Attorney-General portfolios. It will apply to the statutory office holders of the following three agencies within Foreign Affairs and Trade: firstly, the CEO of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; secondly, the CEO of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Austrade; and, finally, the Director-General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, known as ASNO.

Currently, there are limited provisions for ending an appointment when conduct or performance falls short. That's why this bill introduces a set of changes designed to make the rules around ending a statutory appointment clearer and more responsive. It expands the grounds on which a statutory officer may be terminated, and, for the very first time, it provides a mechanism to suspend an office holder from their duties when serious concerns arise. These amendments will ensure that the office holders can be held to account for serious misconduct or for unsatisfactory performance. It's what these agencies deserve, and it's what Australians deserve when they think about senior office holders of the government.

In cases where behaviour or performance falls well below the expected standard, termination would be available as an appropriate consequence. The strengthened termination provisions would only apply from the date the bill commences. They are not intended to capture or reassess any conduct that occurred before the new framework comes into effect.

The provisions for ASNO are built different—they're a bit different. ASNO operates as a nuclear regulator, and maintaining its regulatory independence is absolutely essential. This independence may require limits on when and how officials can be removed from their positions. As a result, for ASNO, the amendments mean that the statutory office holder could be held accountable for serious misconduct but only where that misconduct has been formally established through the existing statutory assessment process.

The bill does not introduce a new ground for termination based on unsatisfactory performance. A new provision, which will apply to each of these agencies, will be giving the responsible minister the capacity to suspend an office holder from their duties. This power could be used where there are reasonable concerns that allowing the office holder to continue might pose a risk to staff, undermine the agency's reputation or compromise the interests of the statutory authority.

The bill also includes sensible but more minor modernising updates. One example is the proposal to reduce the ACIAR CEO's term from seven years to the more common five-year appointed period, aligning it with modern public sector practice. The changes in this bill will amend the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Act, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act, and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission Act.

In the Attorney-General's portfolio, this bill affects the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, making amendments that concern the appointment duration and the termination of the first and second parliamentary counsel. At present, these office holders can only be removed by the Governor-General and only in a very narrow set of circumstances. This limited approach no longer reflects contemporary expectations for workplace behaviour or for workplace accountability. Modern workplaces require clearer and more comprehensive standards, particularly when it comes to dealing with repeated bullying, harassment or other forms of unacceptable conduct. Quite simply, modern workplaces—regardless of whether you are in the private sector, the public sector or an agency—should uphold those values and meet the expectations that Australians deserve to see.

The current provisions do not provide a way to address these types of issues, leaving a gap between community expectations and what the existing legislation allows. Under the amended framework, a broader range of grounds for ending an appointment would be introduced. These include unsatisfactory performance, conviction for an indictable offence, bankruptcy, extended or unexplained absence from duties and undertaking paid work outside their role without approval. These changes ensure that the same basic expectations applied to employees across Australia also apply to these very senior statutory roles. Together, these updates would bring the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970 in line with what most Australians would view as fair and reasonable minimum standards in a modern workplace. They strengthen accountability while ensuring the integrity of the offices is supported by clear and contemporary safeguards.

The bill also amends the tenure of the first and second parliamentary counsel office holders from seven to five years. This brings these positions in line with the statutory office holders at other Commonwealth entities, such as the Administrative Review Tribunal. Labor promised to return integrity, honesty and accountability to government, and our progress has been substantial already. This is another important part of that puzzle.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission was established in July 2023, an independent statutory entity empowered to investigate serious or systemic corruption involving Commonwealth public officials. Later that same year, Labor established the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, PWSS, as an independent statutory agency through the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Act 2023. This implemented recommendation 11 of the Set the standard independent review into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. The act provides for a dedicated human resource function to support parliamentarians and support safer and more respectful Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. In 2024, the Albanese Labor government drove through reforms of the Australian Public Service, designed to reinforce the expectation that the APS continues to strengthen its skills, continues to deepen its institutional knowledge and continues to stay focused on serving the public interest both now and into the future. By embedding these principles into the framework, we ensured the APS operates with impartiality and a strong service ethos and that it remains accountable, respectful and grounded in the highest ethical standards.

In October 2024, Labor replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal with the ART. This was necessary to introduce a more open, merit driven approach to appointments. The ART also benefited from stable long-term funding to ensure effective ongoing operation. There was a focus on efficiency and clearing the significant backlog of cases with streamlined procedures, improved workflows and strengthened support services. In December last year, the government released the Australian Government Appointments Framework.

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This provides a clear set of expectations and guidance to strengthen transparent, capability based selection for Commonwealth public roles. It outlines the standards ministers must follow when making appointments, ensuring decisions are grounded in merit and aligned with effective governance and positive outcomes for the Australian public. Under the framework, ministers are accountable for appointments within their portfolios and are expected to be open about how those decisions are made. Appointees should reflect the diversity of the Australian community. They should look like the communities that we represent. Ministers are encouraged to work closely with their departments when designing and carrying out recruitment processes. It also emphasises a focus on continually strengthening the capability and performance of boards and public bodies. These standards apply broadly, across appointments to Commonwealth public offices, including secretaries, agency heads, statutory officers and board members.

The breadth of these reforms illustrates Labor's commitment to restoring trust and faith in government institutions. You need only to think about robodebt, which the Prime Minister described as 'a gross betrayal and a human tragedy' to understand why this was necessary. The Commonwealth Entities Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 continues this record of progress. Through this ongoing work to strengthen how appointments are made, the government is reinforcing its commitment to upholding public confidence and safeguarding trust in our national institutions. These improvements bolster trust and reflect a modern Australian workplace. For this reason, I commend the bill to the House.

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