CHAPTER XXXIII

OTHER PUBLIC OFFICIALS

As the political organs of a community undertake the performance of new functions, they need an increasing staff of functionaries, and the question of patronage becomes increasingly difficult. In democratic communities, the matter is even more pressing than in aristocratic societies, for whilst it is found that tendencies to corruption exist equally in both, in the democratic community it is less possible to preserve a cloke of decent silence. Everything is talked about, and there gradually grows up a class of persons who live by the discovery, or pretended discovery, of scandals. It may well be doubted whether the action of these self-appointed censors is, in the long run, productive of more good than harm, and whether a cast-iron system of appointment and promotion is calculated to procure the best public service for a community. But it will be sufficient for us to examine here the actual system which the circumstances alluded to have produced in Victoria.

The system was introduced by a statute of the year 1883,1 and was remodelled in 1889.2 Practically it includes within its provisions every member of the Government civil service, except the Responsible Ministers of the Crown, the judges and higher officials of the courts of law, the officials of the Houses of Parliament and the Royal Mint, the members of the police force and the Government railway staff, and a few of the higher Government officials specially appointed under various statutes.3 There are special provisions (before noticed) regarding the appointment of State school teachers, but they are subject to the general provisions of the Public Service Act.

1 47 Vic. No. 773. 2 53 Vic. No. 1024. 3 Public Service Act 1890, § 3.

1

To carry out the system, there is a Public Service Board consisting of three persons, appointed by the Governor in Council, and removable in the same way as the Railway Commissioners. Two members of the Board constitute a quorum, and each member receives a salary of £1500 a year, permanently appropriated for the purpose. The appointments have hitherto been made for indefinite periods.3

The principal duties of the Board are as follow

1. To investigate and report upon the efficiency, economy, and general working of any public department when required to do so by the Minister in charge of it.*

2. To make an annual report to the Governor in Council on the condition and efficiency of the public service.5

3. To increase or diminish, with the consent of the Governor in Council, the number of persons employed in any department, or to alter their distribution."

4. To keep a record of the services of all persons (with certain exceptions) employed in the Public Service, and publish it annually.'

5. To certify, upon the happening of any vacancy which it is deemed desirable to fill up, the necessity for a new appointment and the name of the person entitled to such appointment.8

6. To keep a register of candidates for temporary employment under Government, and to select from such candidates persons best qualified to perform any work required."

7. To make regulations for the following purposes

a. The examination of candidates for admission to the service and for certain offices.10

B. The employment of women in the Public Service.11

7. The fixing of the scale of remuneration for manual labour.12

8. The compulsory life or annuity insurance of members of the Civil Service.13

e. The securing of specially selected and suitable officials for the Public Library, Museums, National Gallery, and for penal establishments, reformatory schools, and lunatic asylums.14

The admission of certain supernumeraries to the service.15

CHAP. XXXIII

THE PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD

309

7. The duties of officers in the Public Service and the discipline to be observed by them.1

6. The procuring and inspection of stores for the government service.2

8. To hear appeals from the Committee of Classifiers for State school appointments.

3

9. To investigate charges laid by the permanent head of a department against an official of the department, and referred by the Minister to the Board.*

10. To punish offences thus proved, by reduction of rank, forfeiture of increment, or dismissal from the service."

11. To authorise payment for overtime.

6

The Public Service (excluding the officials before alluded to) is divided into four divisions, known respectively as "first," "professional," "clerical," and "non-clerical." 7 The First Division contains the Clerk of the Executive Council, and eleven permanent heads of public departments. Its members, except those whose salaries are provided by special statute, are paid the amounts fixed by the Annual Appropriation Act. The Professional Division comprises those offices for the discharge of which professional skill is required, as well as the inspectors and teachers in the education department. Its members are paid according to scale fixed by regulation and provided by the Annual Appropriation Act. The Clerical Division, which, as its name implies, includes those officials whose duties consist of clerical labour requiring no special professional education, is subdivided into five classes, of which the first, second, and third are known as the "higher" classes, and the fourth and fifth as the "lower." The members of each class receive the minimum and maximum salaries and the annual increments provided by the Public Service Act.10 The Non-Clerical Division comprises, practically, the officials of the service engaged in manual labour, and their wages are fixed by Regulations of the Public Service Board.11

No new appointment in the service can be made, except upon a request from the permanent head of a department to the Minister, accompanied by a certificate from the Public

9

§ 23. But the maximum and minimum salaries of the the Schedules to the Public Service Act.

teachers are fixed by

10 §§ 19, 20, 23.

11 § 59 (VIII.)

Service Board, stating that the appointment is necessary, and naming the person entitled. In the case of appointments to the First or Professional Divisions, the person thus named must, if possible, be already a member of the service.2 In the case of new appointments to the Clerical Division, they must be made, in the first instance, to the fifth class, from applicants between the ages of sixteen and thirty, who have passed the required examination, which may be competitive if necessary.3 Promotions to the First or Professional Divisions, or to the higher classes of the Clerical Division, may be made either from the officials next in rank in the department in which the vacancy occurs, or from the next rank in any other department, according to the recommendation of the Public Service Board.1 But any official thus passing from the lower to the higher classes of the Clerical Division must have passed an examination severer than that required for the lower, unless he be an university graduate. Promotions to the fourth class of the Clerical Division go by seniority and merit combined.

5

6

Appointments to the Non-Clerical Division are also decided. by competitive examination, except where the Board reports that the system of competitive examination could not be advantageously applied, and transfers from the Non-Clerical Division to the lowest class of the Clerical Division may be made on the recommendation of the Board, in the case of any official who has served for two years in the Non-Clerical Division. In the case of examinations the Board may reduce the number of candidates by lot, to a number not less than three times the number of vacancies. Candidates for the NonClerical Division must be between the ages of sixteen and forty, except in special cases."

Every appointment to the public service is at first made. upon probation only, for a period of six months,1o and cannot be confirmed until the probationer has insured his life by a

1 Public Service Act 1890, § 32.

2 § 34. This rule does not apply to teachers in the Education Department.

3 §§ 35, 53, 56. There is a special examination for candidates for the office of police magistrates who are not practising lawyers (§ 40).

4 § 47.

7 §§ 58 and 52.

10

§ 32. In the case of appointments from outside the public service to a post in the professional division, the probationary term is for a period of three months

only (§ 33).

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THE PUBLIC SERVICE

311

non-assignable policy, in accordance with the Regulations of the Public Service Board.1 An official can be called upon to retire upon attaining the age of sixty, and at sixty-five he retires as of course unless he is called upon by the Governor in Council to continue, and is willing to comply with the demand.2 No ordinary official appointed since the passing of the Pensions Abolition Act of 18813 may receive any pension or allowance on retirement, and no official under the Public Service Act (including members of the Public Service Board) may engage in any trade or calling, other than his official duties, either for himself or for another person, without the consent of the Governor in Council.5

On the other hand, no public official may be dismissed or punished except upon a reduction of the staff of a department made upon the recommendation of the Public Service Board, or for an offence duly reported to the Minister, who may lay the matter before the Board for investigation. The Board may, if it think fit, obtain the appointment of a special tribunal of three persons to investigate the charge, or it may do so itself. If the charge is established, the Board may reduce or fine the offender, deprive him of increment or leave of absence, or, with the consent of the Governor in Council, dismiss him from the service. An official thus charged may be represented by counsel, and may adduce evidence in disproof of the charge." A conviction for felony or infamous offence or insolvency forfeits the office, but an insolvent official may be reinstated, if he prove to the satisfaction of the Board that his insolvency was not due to fraud, extravagance, or dishonourable conduct.

8

The Minister in charge of a department may grant leave of absence to an official for not more than three weeks in any year, and after twenty years' service an official may be granted a twelve months' furlough on the recommendation of the Board.9 In addition to these allowances, there are eight statutory holidays in the year, and the Governor in Council may proclaim others.10

Finally, a register is kept of applicants for temporary employment, and in the event of urgent need by a Minister