Evaluation of Safework SA
In May 2018, as a consequence of complaints and reports made to the Office for Public Integrity, Commissioner Lander announced he would conduct an evaluation of the practices, policies and procedures of the regulatory arm of SafeWork SA.
Report
Commissioner Lander’s report on the evaluation was tabled in Parliament in November that year.
The Commissioner’s report makes 39 recommendations aimed at preventing and minimising corruption, misconduct and maladministration. The report considers matters of governance and culture, conflict between the regulatory and education functions within the agency, and the risks of regulatory capture.
Read the report
Evaluation of the Practices, Policies and Procedures of the Regulatory Arm of SafeWork SA
Impact
Following release of the report, SafeWork SA formed an internal steering committee to oversee the recommendations of the evaluation. The agency reported regularly to the ICAC on progress of their implementation.
In 2022 the State Government commissioned an independent review of SafeWork SA by Mr John Merritt. That review report was released on 16 December 2022.
The terms of reference of the review included assessment of the implementation of the recommendations from the 2018 ICAC evaluation of the agency.
Mr Merritt commented:
The implementation of the ICAC recommendations has been the top priority of SafeWork SA leadership over the last four years. The recommendations have created a significant agenda for reform of the organisation, that has dominated the focus of the organisation. Every leader and member of staff that I spoke to affirmed the activity of the organisation to implement the ICAC reforms. (p41)
The review report includes the actions undertaken to implement of each of the recommendations contained in the evaluation. Some components of several recommendations were still being actioned at the time the review was undertaken. However, the majority have been implemented, and the review found that substantial organisational reform has occurred within SafeWork SA.
Public hearing transcripts
Commissioner Lander conducted public hearings at the Riverside Centre, North Terrace in relation to his evaluation of the practices, policies and procedures of the regulatory arm of SafeWork SA.
| 1 | Opening Submission | Friday, 1 June 2018 (view transcript) |
| 2 | Mr Martyn Campbell, Executive Director, SafeWork SA | Monday, 2 July 2018 (view transcript) |
| 3 | Mr Rodney John Murray | Wednesday, 4 July 2018 (view transcript) |
| 4 | Chief Officer Greg Crossman, South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service | Thursday, 5 July 2018 (view transcript) |
| 5 | Mr Nev Kitchin, General Secretary, Public Service Association of SA | Wednesday, 11 July 2018 (view transcript) |
| 6 | Mr Joe Szakacs, State Secretary, SA Unions | Thursday, 12 July 2018 (view transcript) |
| 7 | Ms Holly Stanley, Counsel Assisting the Commissioner | Friday, 31 August 2018 (view transcript) |
Submissions
Commissioner Lander received submissions in relation to the SafeWork SA evaluation. Not all submissions have been published.
Material might not be published where:
- it is not considered relevant to the scope of the evaluation
- the material contains information concerning particular incidents or events that are not the focus of the evaluation
- the material contains information that is defamatory or offensive to an individual or individuals
- the material contains information, the disclosure of which might compromise the operations of SafeWork SA
- the information relates to issues of national security which would be inappropriate to disclose
- the person or persons making the submission objected to the submission being published.
Some material has been redacted to remove references to individuals, particular events or comments or opinions that might be considered defamatory or critical without foundation.
In conducting his evaluation, Commissioner Lander considered all of the material that he received, including material that has been redacted or has not been published.
