The Commissioner for Public Sector Employment issued the new Code of Ethics for the South Australian Public Sector to take effect from 1 February 2010.

The Code of Ethics for the South Australian Public Sector is the code of conduct for the purposes of the Public Sector Act 2009. The code embodies and builds upon the principles of the Act and seeks to advance the objects of the Act in the pursuit of good government in South Australia.

The amendments to the Public Sector Management Act 1994 became effective on 1 December 2010.

This established an independent Public Sector Commissioner, bringing together the role of the Minister with responsibility for public sector management with the role of the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards. The Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner has been abolished.

The Public Sector Commissioner:

• has responsibility for setting and monitoring public sector standards and codes of ethics as well as oversight of matters of effectiveness and efficiency in the sector as a whole
• reports directly to Parliament (not through a Minister) on matters within his jurisdiction in much the same way that the Auditor General does
• reports on compliance with public sector standards and codes of ethics and the state of the public sector more generally

The Commissioner has recently published the requirements for training for Western Australian Public Servants.

The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh announced significant reforms to Public Sector Ethics after the 2009 Integrity & Accountability Review. The reforms include strengthening of Rules, Culture, Scrutiny and Enforcement.

Training in Public Sector ethics is to mandatory for all Public Servants in Queensland. The requirement has been extended to employees of GOCs, other State entities, Local Governments and Universities.

More detail is available at QLD