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Senators worry incumbent Parliamentary Services chief over secretary’s absence, lucrative retirement pay and anti-corruption raid

Senators worry incumbent Parliamentary Services chief over secretary’s absence, lucrative retirement pay and anti-corruption raid

The acting head of a federal department of Parliament recently raided by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) could not tell Senate estimates when the secretary will return to work.

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS), which oversees the Houses of Parliament, has been rocked by allegations this year, including harboring a toxic culture, silencing dissent and routinely covering up problems.

It was also the subject of revelations about an affair between the department head, Rob Stefanic, and the deputy, Cate Saunders, which led to Ms Saunders leaving the public service with a payout of more than $315,000.

Mr. Stefanic has been absent from DPS for nearly a month, and senators have asked him to appear at Senate Estimates to face further questions on Monday.

But Acting Secretary Jaala Hinchcliffe said Mr. Stefanic was on paid leave with no end date and would not be able to attend the hearing. She declined to specify the nature of her leave.

In a wide-ranging appearance, Ms Hinchcliffe confirmed she was notified of the raid at DPS the day before NACC officers executed a search warrant in the Parliament department on October 3.

She also told estimates she had commissioned lawyer Fiona Roughley SC to carry out an “independent fact-finding investigation into the department’s role in boosting the superannuation payment” Ms Saunders received.

According to reports earlier this year, Mr Stefanic insisted he had no relationship with Ms Saunders when he was his deputy. He disclosed a verbal conflict of interest with the civil service watchdog over “perceptions of a close relationship” with Ms Saunders.

The verbal statement took place eight months before Ms Saunders was seconded to Services Australia. Two months after the secondment began, Mr Stefanic verbally disclosed a “personal relationship” with Ms Saunders to the Speakers of Parliament – Speaker of the House Milton Dick and Speaker of the Senate Sue Lines.

Senators seeking clarity on conflict of interest disclosures

The estimates are one of the rare moments of transparency for DPS because, as the ABC revealed earlier this year, a temporary change made more than a decade ago made the department exempt from freedom of information requests.

At Monday’s hearing, Liberal Leader Jane Hume wanted to know why Mr. Stefanic did not make conflict of interest declarations in writing, as a DPS policy outlines.

Ms Hinchcliffe said she could not say why it was not in writing.

Senator Hume argued that the presidents “were potentially misled” about the nature of Mr Stefanic’s conflict of interest declarations.

“So we have no record of the statements of this conflict, we only have memories,” she said.

“We have inconsistent stories about who knew what and when, we have an inconsistent and, at best, patchy record of when the department was told about a secondment of the assistant secretary.

“And in fact, he may have had a bigger part in the arrangement than anyone knew, but we won’t know because apparently nothing was written. We had to take a lot of this on trust because the department is not under freedom of information.”

Rob Stefanic holds his hands together as he testifies at Senate Estimates

Rob Stefanic took a leave of absence. (ABC News: David Sciasci)

Ms Hinchcliffe said throughout her career she had noticed the civil service had problems with record keeping.

She said addressing this would be a priority during her time leading the department.

Ms. Hinchcliffe was acting commissioner at NACC prior to working at DPS.

Senator Hume said she was delighted Ms Hinchcliffe had been appointed acting secretary in Mr Stefanic’s absence.

But Senator Hume said he plans to write to the Attorney-General to seek assistance in reviewing governance practices at DPS.

Senator David Pocock wanted to know why a question about corruption disappeared from a survey of DPS staff.

He told the hearing that in 2019, a DPS survey found that only 53 per cent of employees thought it would be difficult to get rid of corruption, compared with 71 per cent in the wider public service.

Ms Hinchcliffe took the question on notice and said she would report on why the question had been removed in recent polls.

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts asked how staff morale had been affected by Mr Stefanic’s absence, to which Ms Hinchcliffe said morale had not been affected.

The hearing ended with Senator Hume telling Ms Hinchcliffe that at the next hearing he would ask further questions about Mr Stefanic’s leave and how much it cost the taxpayer.