Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

It's not relevant to this particular bill. It's a broad assessment of Services Australia, but I am proud to be the minister for Services Australia, and I am proud of the work that they do every day. I think that the teams especially that engage with First Nations community do so with cultural respect and cultural awareness. And, yes, you can always improve the way government engages with communities across Australia, but I stand here to defend the work of Services Australia. It's a huge organisation doing difficult work right around the country. And, yes, I accept that, at times, decisions will be wrong or should have been made sooner, given it's an organisation of 30,000 staff. But I think the teams that engage directly with First Nations communities, whether they be remote or in metro areas, are seeking to improve their work every single day. The broader point I'm making is that, regarding the information that Services Australia has, it might not be that people have shared their innermost or all of the issues that are impacting on their life. But, because Services Australia often has so much contact with their customers over a long period of time, that information would be available to the minister.

The idea that there wouldn't be some sensitivity and commonsense approach—because it's a ministerial power; it's not a bureaucratic power—in the exercise of this power is unfair. Yes, I understand you'll be cynical and you won't trust the motives of ministers and all the rest of it, but all of the safeguards that have been put in, including the transparent reporting that the minister has recommended to the ombudsman so that everyone, including all of those that participate in Senate estimates and all of that, will be able to see exactly when and if this power has been used and explore the circumstances of the use of that power, respond to the concerns that have been raised by many of the organisations that you have identified.