John Lloyd (Australian public servant)
John Lloyd | |
|---|---|
| Australian Public Service Commissioner | |
| Assumed office December 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Richard Lloyd |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Occupation | Public servant |
John Richard Lloyd PSM is a senior Australian public servant. He is currently Australian Public Service Commissioner.
Life and career
Between 1992 and 1996, Lloyd was Executive Director of the Victorian Department of Business and Employment.[1] From 1996 to 2001, Lloyd was Chief Executive of the Western Australian Department of Productivity and Labour Relations.[1]
While a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations from 2001 to 2004,[1] Lloyd played a key role establishing the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry in 2001, and in advising the Howard Government about its response to the report of the Commission.[2]
Between August 2004 and September 2005, Lloyd was Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.[2]
Lloyd was appointed the inaugural Australian Building and Construction Commissioner in September 2005, when the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner was established to monitor and promote workplace relations in the Australian building and construction industry.[2] In the role, he came up against powerful construction unions,[3] advocating industrial relations changes perceived by some, including the H. R. Nicholls Society, as an attack on workers' rights.[4] In 2010, the Labor Government announced it would not appoint John Lloyd for a second term, and named Leigh Johns as his successor in the role.[5]
In 2013, the Victorian Government appointed Lloyd as red tape commissioner, with the target to reduce red tape by 25 per cent.[6] In the role, Lloyd met with 25 different associations, and several individual businesses, before proposing 36 changes to regulations, including to end the ban on selling plastic knives to minors and to allow caravan owners to build annexes in caravan parks without a permit.[7]
In December 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott appointed Lloyd Australian Public Service Commissioner.[8][9][10] Early on in the role, he highlighted the need for public service managers to address concerning levels of unscheduled absences,[11] and suggested that public service middle managers were not making enough decisions or giving enough advice.[12]
John Lloyd is a long time member and former director of the Work Reform and Productivity Unit at the extreme right wing economic think-tank Institute of Public Affairs.[13] The IPA has a long association with the Liberal Party of Australia.[1] At present no fewer than six IPA alumni are members of the Australian Federal Parliament representing the conservative Liberal Party. Lloyd's long-term involvement with a the IPA and neo-conservative causes has called into question his political impartiality and whether he himself adheres to the Australian Public Service's mandatory requirement that public servants be politically impartial. The Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct states that "(1.2.19) Advice provided to the Government must also be: objective and non-partisan". Some commentators have questioned whether his role as public service commissioner is consistent with his former and ongoing ties with the IPA - an organisation that refuses to reveal its funding sources but which relentlessly promotes a extreme-right wing neo-conservative political and economic agenda.[2] This is an agenda that the Abbott and Turnbull administrations have implemented to a large measure, including changes to the Federal Public Service.[3]
Awards
Lloyd was awarded a Public Service Medal in June 2004 for outstanding public service in the field of workplace relations, particularly his contribution to the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry.[14]
In the Australian Public Service Commission "State of the Service Report, 2015-2016", Lloyd styled himself "The Honourable" in the letter of transmittal to the then Prime Minister, the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP and also on the Commission's internet page.
Lloyd is not entitled to use this honorific. In Australia, this honorific may be used only by the Governor-General, Federal and State Ministers, some State Governors, and judges of the superior courts.[15]
References
- ^ a b c More information about the panel (PDF), National Press Club, 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015
- ^ a b c Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, The Hon John Lloyd PSM B. Comm.: ABC Commissioner, Australian Government, archived from the original on 21 August 2006
- ^ Thomson, Phillip (22 January 2015). "Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd says ignore 'right-wing warlord' labels". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- ^ Mather, Joanna (12 December 2014). "Market 'warrior' John Lloyd to head public service". Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "Leigh Johns named new boss of the Australian Building and Construction Commission". The Australian. News Corp. AAP. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Stafford, Patrick (18 January 2013). "Meet Australia's first red tape commissioner: Why he wants to hear from small business". SmartCompany.com.au. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Campbell, James (8 January 2014). "State Government red tape blitz sets sights on train refunds and tourists on scooters". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Australian Public Service Commission, About the Australian Public Service Commissioner, Australian Government, archived from the original on 28 February 2015
- ^ "Appointment of Australian Public Service Commissioner" (Press release). Australian Government. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015.
- ^ Thomson, Phillip (12 December 2014). "John Lloyd new Public Service Commissioner". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Thomson, Phillip (11 March 2015). "Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd on the attack: launches into underperformers, red tape and leak". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Thomson, Phillip (12 March 2015). "EL1s and EL2s need to take on more: Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
- ^ https://ipa.org.au/people/john-lloyd | People - John Lloyd ipa.org.au
- ^ "Search Australian Honours: LLOYD, John Richard. Public Service Medal", itsanhonour.gov.au, Australian Government, archived from the original on 1 April 2015
- ^ "The Honourable". Wikipedia. 28 November 2016.