APS right to warn its staff on conduct By The Canberra Times
Maurice Blackburn's national head of employment law, Josh Bornstein, is drawing a long bow with his objection to the APS warning staff to be cautious about expressing views outside of their work that might bring the APS into disrepute.
All Glyn Davis and Gordon de Brouwer have done in an "all staff" email circulated last week is to remind public sector workers of their obligation under the APS code of conduct to be "impartial, committed to service, accountable, respectful and ethical".
Former public servant Michaela Banerji took her free speech claim to the High Court and lost. File picture by Karleen Minney
That's hardly controversial. It is the type of guidance that senior managers in private enterprise provide to their staff every day of the week.
The suggestion that the APS is gagging its employees on the issue of what is happening in the Middle East just does not stand up to close scrutiny.
The nearest the email came to referring to specific topics of interest was to mention "conflicts abroad and disagreements at home". While it is fair to infer that events in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, and the protests in Australia were front of mind, this does not constitute a diktat or ban in any shape or form.
To suggest, as Mr Bornstein has done, that staff have been put on notice not to speak out or to protest in support of one side or the other, is quite a stretch.
The likelihood that an APS member who peacefully participates in a legitimate and authorised demonstration, march or protest rally would be disciplined for exercising what is clearly their democratic right is remote.
If, however, they took part in an unsanctioned protest shouting racist tropes and flying the banned banners of proscribed terrorist groups that would be a different matter entirely.
Public servants, who are charged to work for the good of all Australians - not specific interest groups, have always had to balance the responsibility that comes with that against how they conduct themselves in private.
That's the reason why there is an APS Code of Conduct in the first place. It is also why public servants are routinely given training and guidance on social media usage.
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That is also commonplace in the private sector, including in media organisations such as this one.
Despite what some would have us believe as a result of the dismissal of Michaela Banerji from the Department of Immigration, the APS does not have a history of unreasonably gagging its staff.
Ms Banerji was dismissed for publicly condemning the policies of the department in which she was employed on innumerable occasions. Similar conduct in the private sector would have elicited the same result.
Greg Jericho, who wrote an influential political blog under a nom de plume while he was working for the Department of Environment, Heritage, Water and the Arts, was not sanctioned however. That's because none of his posts covered policy areas with which he was involved.
The reality is that emotions over the Middle East are running very high in Australia at the moment. Public servants do not live in isolation and it is reasonable to assume that many have strong personal views.
It is very easy for people to get carried away in the heat of the moment and to post something online, or to do something in public, they may later regret.
The motives behind last week's advice were clearly two-fold. The obvious intent would have been to protect individuals from themselves.
A secondary consideration is that if somebody does cross a line APS management can say: "you were given a clear warning and you did this anyway".
Public servants, like everybody else, must own what they say and do.