Significant Appointments

Establishment, Review, or Assessment of a Government Body

The Public Interest Map is the public sector governance model for the establishment and accountability of Government bodies (excluding companies and government owned corporations), which is detailed at DPC’s website, see Public Interest Map policy.

A public interest case must be made in order to establish any new Government body and to determine the appropriate form of a new body. Governance and Constitutional Services, DPC, must be consulted in relation to the establishment of any Government Body (except companies and government owned corporations, which are the responsibility of QT, and Ministers must seek the Premier’s approval of the public interest case prior to proceeding with the new body’s establishment.

In relation to companies, it should be noted that, if following completion of questions one to six of the public interest case, it is determined that a company is the most suitable organisational form, the public interest case is not required to be further developed (ie. question seven and determination of governance arrangements).

Responses to questions one to six will form part of preliminary consultation with QT to establish a company.

A public interest case will be required when the body is established and reviewed for the first time, but not each time an appointment is made to the body or when the body is assessed every three years. If a sunset clause is not applied when the body is established, the Public Interest Map policy requires that the body must be reviewed three years after it is established.

Departments are required to assess all existing Government bodies every three years to ensure that they are operating effectively against their terms of reference or the functions for which they were established. Newly established bodies should be assessed in the assessment cycle following their first three year review. Departments must inform the portfolio Minister of the assessment outcomes for all Government bodies in their portfolio, including any issues that have been identified requiring action. Ministers are required to inform the Premier in writing that all bodies in their portfolio have been assessed and of the outcomes of the assessment.

An intensive review, using a public interest case, is only required if issues are identified at the time of regular assessment, or when there is a significant change proposed for the body’s terms of reference or functions.

Appointment to a Government Body

Appointments to Government bodies, including those which are considered by Cabinet as a Significant Appointment submission and those made by a Minister and not considered by Cabinet, are subject to strict intra-government consultation requirements. Some appointments are also subject to consultation with Parliamentary Committees under legislation.

For detailed information on consultation requirements, refer to 6.0 Consultation.

Ministers are required to raise all proposed appointments, regardless of whether they are significant or not, with the Premier in writing at least six weeks before the appointments are proposed to be made. This letter should be lodged with the Premier through Governance and Constitutional Services, and must include:

• the Government body membership, including details of new, outgoing and remaining members
• current curriculum vitae for all proposed appointees
• that the Minister is satisfied with the suitability of the nominees, including that appropriate suitability checks have been carried out
• that the Minister has ensured diversity of nominees, including details of the existing and proposed gender distribution on the body, as well as the process used to achieve gender diversity, or reasons why gender diversity could not be achieved
• that other Government policies regarding appointment of public servants, Members of Parliament or lobbyists have been considered.

The Premier's approval is required if a Minister is proposing a total membership of an advisory body to exceed 12.

Gender balance

The Government is committed to achieving and sustaining gender equity on government bodies.

The Office for Women has collated a range of actions to assist in achieving and maintaining the targets, including support for women, support for agencies and support for the system of appointments, available on the Women on Boards website.

The Office for Women can be consulted in relation to all appointments made to government bodies, including those made by a Minister and not considered by Cabinet. Consultation should commence in the initial stages of the appointment process to enable the Office for Women to work with agencies to proactively identify opportunities for the appointment of women and suitably qualified female nominees.

The letter to the Premier (including where appointments will be made by a Minister and not considered by Cabinet) and Significant Appointment submissions must detail the process used to achieve gender balance, or provide reasons why gender balance cannot be achieved. The Office for Women can provide advice and support to government departments to implement strategies to achieve gender equity on their government bodies.

Diversity Considerations

Government has committed to increasing all forms of diversity on its boards. This includes Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, women, seniors, young people, people with disability, and people who identify as LGTBIQ+. The Join a Board website contains a range of materials and tools to assist in delivering on this commitment including support for people from diverse backgrounds and support for the system of appointments.

It is recommended that Significant Appointment submissions, or the letter to the Premier (where appointments will be made by a Minister and not considered by Cabinet), detail the efforts made and the process used to support and promote recruitment of diverse applicants onto Government boards and committees.

Advisory Bodies

A Government advisory body is formally established to provide advice to Government. Advisory bodies need to be distinguished from stakeholder roundtables which are informally established by a Minister in response to a critical issue. The establishment of a stakeholder roundtable is a matter for a Minister, in consultation with the Premier. Members of a stakeholder roundtable are not remunerated and the roundtable should cease once the critical issue is resolved or managed by a relevant government agency or other consultation methods.

Members of Government bodies that are advisory in nature are, as a general rule, not remunerated and therefore the appointment of such members is not considered to be significant. The general policy is that the responsible Minister may approve, without Cabinet consideration, non-remunerated appointments to any established advisory bodies and remunerated appointments to any established advisory bodies where Cabinet has previously approved that the Advisory Body be remunerated.

At a minimum and without Cabinet approval, out of pocket expenses will be paid to all members of advisory bodies.

However, appointments to advisory bodies which will require Cabinet consideration include:

• when a new advisory body is being established
• where it is proposed to vary remuneration arrangements previously approved by Cabinet
• the Premier determines that Cabinet should consider the appointments.

Remuneration may only be paid to members of an Advisory Body in limited instances, where the members of that body essentially provide an expert service to the Government through the relevant professional, scientific or technical experience or expertise the member applies to specific tasks delegated to them (as distinct from a general advisory brief).

Relevant experience or expertise may include industry experience or background that is required on that advisory body.

The Premier, in consultation with the responsible Minister, may also determine other exceptions to the general rule of non-remuneration to members of advisory bodies, on a case by case basis.

Assessment of suitability for appointment

To manage risks associated with appointments to Government bodies, information on a person's suitability for appointment must be obtained for all appointments, including those which are considered by Cabinet as a Significant Appointments, as defined in 5.1.1.6 Significant Appointment .

Formal checks of criminal history, bankruptcy and eligibility to manage corporations (under the Corporations Act 2001 and Government Owned Corporations Act 1993) should be conducted as relevant and where legislation specifies conditions for eligibility for appointment.

Where there are no legislative requirements to undertake checks for eligibility for appointment, departments are to seek a statement from proposed nominees to confirm their suitability for appointment to the relevant body. Such inquiries are to be made in a manner that does not pre-empt a decision by a Minister or Cabinet or Governor in Council approval.

Information on a person's criminal history is only to be sought from person's being proposed for appointment. This information should not be used as a means of short-listing applicants. Disclosures of this nature are not sought from candidates registered on the Queensland Register of Nominees.

Departments are to ask the proposed nominee(s) to declare whether there are any reasons why they should not be appointed to the relevant government body.

Specifically, proposed nominees are to be asked to consent to disclose:

• whether, if successful, there would be any conflicts of interests, i.e. any private interests that may affect or appear to affect the appointee's public duty
• whether they have any disclosable criminal convictions (convictions as an adult that form part of their criminal history) and have not been rehabilitated under the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986.

Departments are to ensure that the proposed nominee is advised that, where they are unsure about the definition of disclosable criminal convictions or status of any criminal conviction, they may wish to seek legal advice in responding to the questions.

CLLOs have access to an electronic template, a Personal Particulars Form, for the disclosure form to be used by departments to obtain such information. If necessary, a replacement electronic template of the disclosure form can be obtained from Governance and Constitutional Services, DPC.

Information on a proposed nominee's suitability for appointment is to be sought regardless of whether they are a member of another government body. This is in recognition that:

• the nature and functions of government bodies vary and therefore a person's suitability may vary
• the bodies may be administered by different Ministerial portfolios and it is not proposed that departments share previously collected personal information
• a person's circumstances may have altered, including the expiry of a rehabilitation period for relevant offences or a change in private interests.

All persons proposed for reappointment must also be asked prior to Cabinet consideration or Ministerial appointment, whether there are any reasons why they should not be reappointed.

Refusal by a proposed nominee to provide this information does not automatically exclude a person from appointment. In instances where a person discloses a criminal conviction, the relevant Minister, in consultation with the Premier, is to consider the individual circumstances.

It is not necessary to undertake suitability assessments for proposed appointments in the following situations:

• where the proposed appointee is nominated by virtue of holding a specified position, or is elected under legislation
• where the proposed appointee is a public sector employee representing the Queensland Government as part of their work duties.

It is a matter for Ministerial discretion as to whether the same inquiries regarding suitability are carried out where public sector employees are appointed to Government bodies outside of their position and receive remuneration.

Information collected in relation to a person's suitability for appointment, including criminal history, must be handled confidentially, in accordance with the procedures for the security and management of Cabinet documents and not disclosed to outside agencies or parties. It will be the responsibility of CLLOs to ensure the security of this information, in accordance with their existing role.

Appointment of Public Servants to Government Bodies

Public servants may be appointed to a Government body as a Government or departmental responsibility, either linked with their tenure in a particular position or due to their experience within a department or the public service but not necessarily linked to a specific position.

Appointment of office holders

When appointing public servants as Government or departmental representatives to boards, it is preferable to appoint by position title where possible, rather than appointing a specific person by name, ensuring that the appointment tenure is linked to the appointee's position with the department or agency relevant to the board/committee/tribunal position.

This practice is permissible under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, which provides that appointments may be made by the title of an office and that the appointee is taken to be the person occupying or acting in the office.

The appointment of office holder positions, as opposed to individuals by name, removes the requirement for the appointee to tender a resignation upon ceasing employment with the public service or leaving the relevant position. This practice also eliminates the need for a significant appointment submission each time a new individual is employed in the specified position during the original term of appointment.

Appointment by position title may not suit all appointments of public servants as Government or departmental representatives to boards; however, where possible, this should be the preferred approach, subject to any mandatory appointment requirements prescribed by the enabling legislation being met.

Appointment of persons

In some instances, public servants may be appointed by name as a Government or departmental representative to a Government board, due to their experience within a department or the public service, without the appointment being linked to a specific position. Where this is the case, the appointment instrument should specify that the appointment of the individual is subject to continued employment both under the Public Sector Act 2022 and with the department or agency relevant to the board position.

To ensure that the board position is automatically vacated in these instances, the appointment instrument must specifically state that the appointment terminates on the person ceasing to be employed in the public service or ceasing to be employed with the specific department or agency relevant to the board position.

However, it is acknowledged this may not always be suitable and that a number of existing appointments of departmental representatives to Government boards are not specifically linked to their tenure. In these instances a formal resignation would be required from the Government board if ceasing to be employed by the public service or with the department or agency relevant to the board position.

Appointments of Members of Parliament to Offices of Profit

The Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 provides that Members of Parliament (MP) who perform duties or services for government bodies (e.g. boards, committees, or councils) may receive 'reasonable expenses' in the course of performing such additional duties or services.

MPs who receive remuneration associated with the performance of duties or services for government bodies in excess of what is reasonable, or for categories of expenses outside those listed in legislation, are liable to loss of their seat. Accordingly, MPs must undertake to irrevocably waive any entitlement beyond reasonable expenses that are associated with the performance of such duties or services for the Crown. This waiver must be in writing and forwarded to the relevant paying authority for the government body concerned with a copy to the Registrar of Members’ Interests.