NON – POLITICAL CONTROL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1595, 12 November 1912, Page 3

NON - POLITICAL CONTROL.

THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC^SERVICE, EXPLAINED'BY THE COMMISSIONER.,. The London "Daily Telegraph" prints some-extremely interesting extracts from tho evidence given before the British licyal Commission on the Public Services by Mr. Duncan C. M'L'achlan, the Public Service Coiniuissionerof'Australia. Mr. JU'Lachlan explained thai the' Australian Public Sorvice is divided into tour divisions,- viz., the administrative, the professional, the .clerical,.and the general division, and, with'the exception of the administrative division, wliicn is recruited fr'oni.the. clerical,, entrance to the other three is governed by a separate examination.; Mr. M'Lachian's own appointment is a.statutory one, and ho is wholly seveied'i'rom any Ministerial . interference. Any"recommendation that,he makes goes through the Executive Government to the Governor-General for approval, but no matter can go before the latter except on his initiative; that ..is to say, no Ministry can go over his head and make a submission to the Governor-General on any Public Service. question. The Government may disagree with his recommendation, ."but they must furnish reasons," to which lie has the right of reply. Then both papers are placed before Parliament, but up ,to the present there has been no. such disagreement. Ho regulates entirely tho strength of the services, add the scales of pay, and is assisted in his work by a staff'.of inspectors ' who are constantly' going through the various departments. 'Every Man.an Understudy. " ' "In this way we know," he said, "exactly the work and what the men are capable of. We know their idiosyncrasies, and we know their, faults of all kinds."' The examination lor the clerical division is almost identical with that bet for our Sfcond division,' and-is equal to the standard for matriculation for the • University. They have no examination corresponding to our Class I, and he-did not see any use for it. . "The Arabic language," declares t;he witness, "would be of no use to anyone in- the Commonwealth . . . we are more practical people . . . we are a democratic community, and we 6ay the men at the bottom can rise to the top, and they do." The ago. limits are 16 and 21, and there are five classes comprising the clerical division, the initial salary of .£6O in the fifth class, rising to a maximum of. ,£6OO in' the first class. Passage from class to class is not attended by any examination, and there is no attempt at segregation according to l rank, all classes, working together in the same;room. ; All the work to a certain extent is interchangeable, and each man is an understudy really for the position in front of him—"it is an understudying all along the line." • -. . A man is given work according to his special aptitude or qualifications, and not because he is in. a particular class. The position is classified and not the man. He was .perfectly, satisfied-, with. the men who reached the atlministrative grade. "We'hold," he said, "that the man who has gone through from the bottom to tho top, and has had a fairly good education at the start, is the best practical manager of any Department; he has A thorough knowledge of tho work to its smallest detail." Women, of whom there are about 1000 altogether employed, aro 'admitted to the services on the same terms as men; and they had "nearly 100 ladies in the clerical division'. They sit. in tho s-.ine rooms with the ordinary men clerks, and no difficulty his arisen abo,ut it. ■" "In fact," said' Mr: M'Lachlan, "the'ladies themselves' prefer 'to be in the. same room." Thero is no class or sex distinction:' His opinion was that women stood examinations better than men. Promotion does not go by seniority; that was one of the evils in the old service which they have corrected in the new. Tho best man for the position is chosen regardless of seniority; he may not be No. 1, but No. 250. One striking feature of tho.Australian system is that it transfers'all power from the heads of Department to the Public Service Commissioner, even in such matters as promotion, transfers,' and office .discipline. ■ Though i the >h«ad. of the. Department is consulted, Mr. M'Lachlan, on the reports of his inspectors, is responsible for all promotions' and trans-, fers,.increases,.or reductions of staff.. He, as the chairman put it, is at the centre, 'playing on all the. strings. And this .grip over a whole organisation is maintained with the aid of only six inspec-. tors land twenty clerks, in addition, to four clerks for each inspector.. \ They, have no such thing as a water-tight compartment in the Australian services,. and' when a vacancy occurs, anybody at all in the service, whether in the office'itself or outside.it, can apply for it.. "■• The "Temporary" Appointment. i Another interesting fact elicited .was that'.they have no pension system in.AusJ tralia,' but'every official is. compelled' to insure, and gets a lump sum on,retiring,. G5 years being. the compulsory.; and 60 the 'optional age for • retirement. Out; iof .the 50,000 State', employees, 10,000 were temporary, who were paid at the same rate as':the permanent men, and Mr. M'Lachlan regarded temporary'service "as'one of; the greatest evils of any service." But, they got over it by a provision in the.law th'at no man whd entered as a temporary hand could be kept on for more than, nine months. , Be-fore-this all that:a Minister or a member of Parliament who had a friend nced'ed to do was to get him into tho temporary service, "and that temporary service never .ended." Such appointments, he added, "were always a trouble and a curse to the service." He had power under the law to appoint in some professional cases without an examination, and he made all appointments.to the .'administrative posts entirely by himself, without assistance from any .committee or any. other body. A salary of .£1250 was thehighest paid in 'the Australian Civil Service... Where there was a distinct difference of opinion between him and the; head of a'department, nothing but a vote of Parliament could over-rule him, and then by 'a three-fourths majority of both Houses—not one House. / *~ ' The Appeal Board. ■ There is a board for getting rid of inefficient men and deciding in cases of discipline., It is composed of. an officer of the department to which the man belongs, an officer of another department, and a iuwr called a ; divisional representative, selected by the class to which he belongs. This board, which seems to be an excellent Court of Appeal, hears evidence on both sides, and the official charged is allowed even to be represented by counsel. On'the report presented to him, "Mr. ;M'L'achlah then'decides whether the man shall be reduced or retired, though he very rarely reverses any of the recommendations made to' him. ■ Every Civil Servant, is subject to this system of discipline. No one in the Government employ' of .21years of age, even a messenger, .would receive less than .£llO a year. The permanent, and.not the political head was the head of tho department. He did not agree that his interference under the absolute powers that: he possessed affected the responsibility of the head,of tho department or sensibly shook' his authority in his office, though it has happened that he may force on the permanent head an appointment to which the latter objects, . but then',.says' Mr..M'Lachlan, they only know the men who are immediately round' their own chairs, .and know .nothing of the qualifications of those in other departments. '

• Sufferers from the painful 'afflictions of "Rheumatism, Gout, Sciatica, and Lurhbago'frequontly- fly to "Cure alls"—which, of course, they'fail to give relief. Uric Acid in the blood is practically the ,sole cause-of Rheumatism, Gout, and kindred diseases. RHISOMO cures because it removes'this cause. Chemists and stores, '2s.'6d. and if. 6A. a bottle.—Advt. "That's a smart thiilß Fv« done," said the doctor. "What's that?" "I have put my signature in the column 'causa of death' in this death certificate." Willie—"Dad, what aro ancestors?"Father~"Well, I'm f one of yours—your granddad is another." Willie— Oh! But, why is it that folks brag about them?"