PwC scandal
Earlier this year a scandal emerged as directors from consultancy PwC were found to have misused confidential tax policy information (gained through their consulting for the tax department), which they passed on to partners working for multinational companies in the US.
The Australian auditor general said an “over-reliance on PwC and other Big Four consulting
firms placed the government at strategic risk.”
Melissa Donnelly, Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) secretary decribed the scandal as “the love child of outsourcing and tax avoidance”.
PwC has since been banned from contracting to the Australian Public Service (APS) and their directors prosecuted. An ongoing Senate inquiry has also found serious issues with PwC’s dealings with its own
taxes. This has shone a spotlight on the conduct of each of the “Big Four” consultancies, some of which have declined to disclose their tax payments or political donations.
Federal- and State-level public services have responded to this by relooking at the extent of the Big Four's contracting to consultancies. The Australian Capital Territories Government, for example, has developed an insourcing framework and is working to build its own teams of “consultants” made up of public servants with the neccessary expertise.
APS well on the way to common conditions and pay
When the CPSU and Australian Public Service Commission said that within the year they’d agree common terms, conditions and pay rates for everyone in the APS, some thought they were being pretty ambitious. They have nearly done it!
Just under 40 common terms have been agreed including 18 days carer’s leave, flexible working by default with no maximum specified working from home days, and, for the first time, provisions to meet the needs of both First Nations public servants and those with disabilities. Where people have superior conditions, they keep them.
There is strong support for this from APS employers as they recognise the benefits for the whole APS of reducing the fragmentation of pay and conditions across agencies. PSA leadership thinks the same benefits apply here in Aotearoa and will continue to advocate for greater commonality of conditions and pay across public services.
Vote yes!
Soon, Australians will vote in a referendum on whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the constitution and create an Indigenous body to advise government and the wider parliament on issues and policies affecting Indigenous people.
There is no Tiriti equivalent in Australia, and this constitutional change is needed to give First Nations people voice.
