Submission: Public Service Legislation Bill

The Council makes 13 recommendations in our submission on the Public Service Legislation Bill. Our recommendations include

• Expanding the open government provisions, including adding a functional definition of the words “Open Government”.
• Affirming that contractors working for government have rights.
• Ensuring public oversight over government standards, rather than entrusting them to un-elected officials.
• Requiring agencies demonstrate concrete achievements in strengthening the Crown’s relationship with Māori, rather than merely being encouraged to have discussions.
• Requiring that progress on diversity and inclusiveness is measured and publicly reported, rather than having a vague and unmeasured objective.
• Overhauling the proposal for astoundingly unregulated powers of chief executives to request that employees and job applicants undergo medical examinations.

Read our full submission (PDF).