Hello everyone,
With today’s announcement of the Federal Election being called, it is timely to remind ourselves as public servants about the environment we are operating within and the rules that apply to all employees of the Tasmanian State Service.
The State Service Principles, articulated in the State Service Act, require the State Service to be apolitical, performing our functions in an impartial, ethical and professional manner.
As such, any political activity by employees must clearly be conducted in a private capacity and care must be exercised to ensure a conflict of interest with official duties does not arise.
As Tasmanian State Service employees, we have the same rights as other members of the community to engage in the political process, but we must do so in a manner where these activities do not conflict with our obligations as state servants.
If making public comment or distributing written material, we must not use Tasmanian Government resources, including work locations, and we must not do so during our normal hours of work. This includes using Tasmanian Government emails, copiers, printers and the like.
We must not use Tasmanian Government resources for political purposes including using premises or other resources to copy, create, display or distribute material of a political nature, or material or messages promoting political party policies.
If we take a commonsense approach, we will ensure our workplaces remain respectful places for our workforce, and that we uphold the expectations of the public service.
If you are in doubt about an issue related to political activity, please discuss it with your manager.
For more information, please refer to our Federal election guidance fact sheet on the DPAC website.
Kind regards,
