Hundreds of public servants suspended amid serious allegations

Hundreds of Queensland public servants are on paid leave while being investigated for serious allegations, newly released figures show. SEE THE DATA

More and more Queensland public servants are on paid leave each year while being investigated for serious allegations, newly released figures show.

Amid integrity allegations, it can be revealed hundreds of public servants have been suspended with pay since the Palaszczuk Government came to power six years ago, with the number of paid suspensions mostly increasing year-on-year.

It means taxpayers have paid $88 million for bureaucrats to do nothing since 2015-16.

Last year, 474 public servants were suspended with pay, costing upwards of $22m.

Half of them were suspended for three to six months, but others spilt into the next financial year.

But the Public Service Commission couldn’t detail how many were newly suspended each year, and how many had rolled over from the previous year.

They could not detail the length of the longest suspension.

Education Department and Queensland Health staff were issued the most suspensions, with 161 and 136 respectively sitting at home on the payroll.

Public servant can be suspended with pay while investigated over allegations of workplace misconduct including sexual harassment, fraud or assault, poor behaviour or concerns over workplace safety.

The Queensland Government building in the Brisbane CBD. Picture: David Clark Photography

A government spokesman said the suspensions affected only one per cent of the public service workforce and were only issued to employees when “allegations were serious enough.”

“The vast majority of Queensland government workers meet or exceed the standards expected of them,” he said.

“Suspension is only used in the public service when allegations against an employee are serious enough, and there is no other way to mitigate risk to the workplace or customers, while the allegations are investigated.”

The spokesman claimed that “stronger public sector reforms” led to the overall increase in suspensions.

“In September 2020, the Queensland Government introduced strong public sector reforms which include actions to address increases in suspension numbers, costs and duration,” he said.

“Under the reforms, chief executives are required to finalise suspension matters in a timely way, all reasonable alternatives must be exhausted before suspending an employee and mandatory periodic reviews of suspensions are required to decide if they should continue.

“These reforms show the government’s commitment to addressing unacceptable employee performance and conduct, and to ensuring a focus to reduce suspension numbers, costs and duration.”

The Department of Premier and Cabinet recorded no paid suspensions during the past financial year.