Mr STEPHEN JONES (4:06 PM) —I wish to speak today about the Gillard government’s reform agenda and, in particular, the important reforms to government service delivery that are set out in this bill, the Human Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010. As a result of the passage of this bill, Medicare Australia and Centrelink will be integrated into the Department of Human Services as a single agency under the leadership of the Human Services secretary. A further consequence of these machinery of government changes is that the staff of Medicare Australia and Centrelink will be moved to the Department of Human Services. While currently Medicare Australia, Centrelink and the Department of Human Services work together very closely and in some respects share functions, further efficiencies can be achieved if they are combined as a single FMA agency under the leadership of the Human Services secretary. All staff from Medicare Australia and Centrelink will be moved to the Department of Human Services.

The Medicare Australia brand will not change. Medicare has provided Australia with affordable, accessible and high-quality health care since 1984. The integration of agencies will further extend the reach of the widely recognised—and, I might say, widely trusted—Medicare brand in the community. For example, through the co-location of services the number of shopfronts where Medicare services are available will more than double, from 240 today to around 500 when the plan is fully implemented. The creation of new statutory offices of Chief Executive Medicare and Chief Executive Centrelink will ensure that statutory decisions under program legislation, which are made on behalf of ministers and secretaries of other departments, will continue to be made under similar arrangements as currently apply, providing much needed continuity of service.

Can I address briefly the issue of data and data privacy. All of these agencies collect enormous amounts of data in the performance of their functions. The government is conscious of the need to protect customer data and therefore only existing customer data sharing arrangements supported by legislation will continue. Importantly, any new sharing of customer data within the integrated Department of Human Services will only occur with customer consent. The government is particularly aware of the trust that Australians place in Medicare Australia’s management of their clinical health information and the need for this information to be held separately and securely. For this reason, clinical health information will be excluded from any data sharing under the service delivery reforms.

The bill is an essential component of the government’s service delivery reform agenda. Service delivery reform will transform the delivery of services in the Human Services portfolio and will provide better outcomes for generations of Australians. If the objective of this package of reforms can be summarised, in a nutshell it is all about putting the customer at the centre of service delivery objectives. It will put customers first in the design and delivery of services and it will ensure services are delivered more efficiently and more effectively, especially to people who need more intensive support and those with complex needs.

The integration of Centrelink, Medicare Australia and the Department of Human Services is a significant step in achieving this vision. It will not only drive efficiencies and reduce the cost of service delivery for government but also transform the delivery of services provided through the Human Services portfolio and provide better outcomes for generations of Australians, as I said.

As the former national secretary of a union that represents the vast majority of the workers who will be affected by these changes I know from firsthand experience that a significant change like this does not happen without the application of considerable time and energy from the public servants affected and their elected union representatives. I have a deal of sympathy for the public servants in Commonwealth agencies who are not change-averse but who have to juggle significant changes such as this along with the constant program changes that quite properly come from us in this place, together with the day-to-day obligations of delivering services to their clients.

The median length of service for our public servants today is now eight years. About 20 per cent of public servants have been in Commonwealth employment for 20 years or more, a significant change over the last two decades. This means that, if you have a career in the Public Service, by around the eight-year mark you have usually seen off a variety of ministers, governments and secretaries, and experienced everything that we can dream up in the period of our tenure, including bringing agencies and sections together and then splitting them up and putting them back together again. I hope that the changes that will be brought about by this bill and this package of reforms will drive a new direction in the delivery of human services, because it is much needed.

Machinery-of-government changes can almost become a way of life for Australian Public Service employees. That is why, when considering reforms to government service delivery, it is important to keep in mind those people who are at the forefront of the provision of these services—that is, the public servants who interact with the public on behalf of the government every day of their working lives. It is not an easy job. These government employees are often the target of people’s anger and frustration at government policy, or their expectations of what government policy should deliver, when it does not provide the outcomes that they are seeking. I understand that dealing with government can be a difficult process. That is why all moves towards making this interaction easier, simpler and more controlled by the persons affected will be a good thing.

When talking about the co-location of Centrelink and Medicare offices, it is important to note that Centrelink workers frequently have to deal with customer aggression. I know that the employees who work there feel very strongly about the importance of delivering services to their customers but, equally, feel very strongly about their rights as employees to work in workplaces that are free from actual threats to their health and safety as employees. With the amalgamation of Centrelink and Medicare offices, there will be an even greater need to closely monitor the interaction of these difficult customers with other customers and for the organisation to be ready to take protective steps if required. This is in the interests of not only the employees of these agencies but also the customers who come there, quite rightly seeking the assistance that the government provides. They have a reasonable expectation of being able to do that in an environment free from any threat or perceived threat.

The service delivery reforms that are contained in this bill are a part of the overall public sector reforms that the Australian government has been embarking on for a number of years now. They are well overdue. These reforms have been a part of bipartisan efforts in Australia and are part of a broader international evolution of government service delivery, which is also known in some places as e-government. E-government is about using developments in information technology to enable governments and their citizens to interact more easily. The aims of e-government are to drive efficiency in service delivery provision and to use information technology to improve the quality and range of service delivery. I think everyone who deals with government departments and agencies would welcome these changes. They recognise the changing nature of the people who are relying upon or interacting with government departments on a daily basis.

The important measures contained in the Human Services Legislation Amendment Bill that we are debating today are but a small part of the important service delivery reforms that the Gillard Labor government is committed to in order to transform the delivery of public services. The aim of the measures of this bill is to put the Australian people first in the design and delivery of services and to ensure that services are delivered effectively and efficiently. Indeed, these should be the aims of all Australian governments. I commend the bill to the House.