WAAC has joined a coalition of women’s and LGB groups to register our concerns that the Department of Health and Aged Care (DOHAC) has compromised its capacity to administer certain grants and provide impartial advice to the government on specific issues as a result of its participation in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI).
The AWEI is the initiative of ACON, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in New South Wales. ACON advocates for a range of policies in relation to workplace inclusion – such as the establishment of gender-neutral toilets and facilities in the workplace, gender affirmation leave, the promotion of pronouns and other identity markers in staff communication. ACON is also a high profile advocate for a range of legislative and policy changes, many of which engage DOHAC’s specific public functions, including Medicare and PBS coverage of ‘gender affirming’ surgery and hormones and for community financial grants.
Putting aside for a moment the issue of workplace inclusion, DOHAC’s striving to win points under the AWEI creates an irreconcilable conflict of interest so that Australians cannot know if DOHAC’s policy advice to the government on areas of interest to ACON is based on the “best available evidence” or is designed to win points under the AWEI scheme.
The integrity of the process of APS agencies consulting advocacy groups and the maintenance of a level playing field for all stakeholders make it imperative that agencies avoid all actions and relationships that put them at the behest of such groups. This is the essence of APS impartiality. How are Australians to know that DOHAC administered specific grants in 2021 based on DOHAC’s consideration of the evidence of the programs’ efficacy, efficiency, and economy – as DOHAC is legally required to do – or because DOHAC is striving for AWEI points to secure its silver tier AWEI status?
We have noted these concerns, and more, in our submission to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit’s Inquiry into probity and ethics in the Australian public sector, and have recommended that DOHAC and other participating agencies withdraw from the AWEI scheme so that Australians can have confidence that these agencies act impartially in all matters relating to the administration of public funds and in providing advice to the government.
We have also recommended that the Australian Public Service Commission and the Australian National Audit Office fulfil their proper role in ensuring agencies understand and implement APS values, notably the value of impartialityin the provision of honest, frank, and timely advice to the government based on the best available evidence. A relationship such as that which agencies have constructed with ACON through the AWEI is incompatible with these values.
Read our full submission, below.
