The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) has outlined Agencies’ responsibilities to protect the political neutrality of the Public Service when providing information to political parties during caretaker conventions.
In Circular 2022-09 Use of Publicly Available Government Material by Political Parties, the Secretary of DPC, Michael Coutts-Trotter said the NSW Government supported and encouraged the reuse of its publicly funded information.
“Material on a Government website may be reused by political parties provided the copyright and licensing arrangements permit reuse by any person and the terms and conditions of reuse are complied with,” Mr Coutts-Trotter said.
“Special arrangements apply in the period immediately before a State general election,” he said.
“During the caretaker period, Agencies should be especially vigilant to protect the political neutrality of the public service and to ensure that public resources are not misused for party political purposes.”
Mr Coutts-Trotter said that in the lead up to the State general election, Agencies should review their websites to ensure appropriate copyright notices were in place.
“Agencies must not give one political party access to material that would not be given to another political party,” he said.
The Secretary said any reuse of publicly available Government material should be done in a manner that did not suggest the NSW Government endorsed the political party, or the use of the material by the political party.
C2022-09 replaces C2018-07 Use of Publicly Available Government Material by Political Parties.
DPC’s Circular 2022-09 can be accessed at this PS News link.
