The Public Sector Standards Commissioner (PSSC) is a position created under the Public Administration Act 2004 (PDF 569KB).

role

The PSSC works collaboratively with public sector employers to promote high standards of integrity and conduct in the Victorian public sector by:

• issuing codes of conduct that reinforce the public sector values


• issuing standards on how to apply the employment principles


• promoting the values, employment principles, standards and codes through publications such as Ethics Framework and the Ethics Resource Kit


• reviewing grievances, making recommendations, and reporting to the Premier


• establishing a Register of Lobbyists.

Public Sector Standards Commissioner

Peter Allen commenced as the Public Sector Standards Commissioner on 24 August 2009.

Peter Allen is the Deputy Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Peter joined ANZSOG in March 2009 after more than 20 years in the Victorian Public Service (VPS), most recently as Under Secretary in the Department of Human Services.

Peter’s earlier responsibilities include Secretary of the Victorian Department of Education and the Department of Tourism, Sport and the Commonwealth Games; and senior positions in Community Services Victoria and Health and Community Services.

Before joining the VPS, Peter’s career included journalism, the private sector, the Commonwealth Public Service and the welfare sector.

Peter is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, a Fellow of the Victorian Institute of Public Administration, and a Fellow of ANZSOG. He also chairs the Management Committee of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

lobbyists register

From 1 December 2009, a lobbyist wishing to have contact with a Government Representative for the purposes of lobbying activities must be registered on the Register of Lobbyists. In registering, a lobbyists agree to comply with the requirements of the Victorian Government Professional Lobbyist Code of Conduct (PDF 42KB). The Register is maintained by the PSSC.

unfair dismissal

From 1 July 2009 new unfair dismissal laws, under the Federal Government's Fair Work Act 2009, commenced.

The new laws reinstate the unfair dismissal provisions for organisations with fewer than 100 employees that were previously exempt under the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

The effect of the new unfair dismissal laws is that the PSSC’s powers to hear unfair dismissal applications for public sector employees and for Parliamentary Officers, whose public sector employer employs 100 employees or less, are now redundant. These employees may now make an unfair dismissal application, subject to meeting the requirements of the legislation, to Fair Work Australia.

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