NSW Education Department strengthens Employee Performance and Conduct directorate

The New South Wales Department of Education have made changes to the department’s Employee Performance and Conduct (EPAC) directorate in the hopes of making it “more efficient and transparent.”

 

The EPAC ‘s primary role is to investigate instances where complaints have been raised against an employee of the department. 

 

Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mark Scott, yesterday released a review of EPAC, saying the department has begun the implementation of its recommendations, which will all be acted on by mid-2020.

 

Mr Scott said the review was commissioned to “examine and make recommendations about how employee performance and conduct functions are managed.”

 

The review confirmed the importance of the functions of EPAC as an internal unit of the department within the new Division of People and Culture.

 

Stakeholders expressed concerns about delays in the completion of investigations and a call for greater transparency and communication with all people involved.

 

The review recommends “immediate action by the department” to address the workload issues which have contributed to delays in the completion of investigations and to implement a number of actions to enhance transparency of the process. 

 

“The review has identified how operational efficiency can be improved, how matters can be dealt with in a more timely fashion, and how EPAC’s independence and procedural fairness can be made clearer to stakeholders,” said Mr Scott.

 

“I would like to thank Mr Mark Tedeschi AM QC, a former Crown Prosecutor for NSW, for his meticulous work in conducting the review.”

 

In February this year, stakeholders were invited to make submissions, and a submission form was published on the department’s website for contributions from the general public.

 

Mr Tedeschi reviewed more than 100 submissions, met key stakeholders and examined how similar investigative functions are managed by other agencies within and outside NSW, in educational and other professional settings.

 

To view the review or recommendations, please see here.