This very interesting report appeared a day or so ago.
Public servants' online muzzle
- by: Natasha Bita, Consumer editor
- From: The Australian
- April 18, 2012
PUBLIC servants have been gagged from criticising Gillard government policies on blogs, Facebook and Twitter -- even if they use an alias.
The Australian Public Service Commission has warned bureaucrats they risk the sack if they post "inappropriate" comments on social media.
"APS employees must still uphold the APS values and code of conduct even when material is posted anonymously or using an alias or pseudonym," it states in a new circular.
"Employees should not rely on a site's security settings for a guarantee of privacy, as material posted in a relatively secure setting can still be copied and reproduced elsewhere.
"As a rule of thumb, irrespective of the forum, anyone who posts material online should make an assumption that at some point their identity and the nature of their employment will be revealed."
Commonwealth Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said yesterday the muzzling of public servants was "excessive", and might be overturned in an industrial tribunal.
The new edict would ban bureaucrats from commenting in a private capacity on issues of public interest, such as the carbon tax or asylum policy, she said.
"Any citizen should be able to participate in social media and express their personal views without risk to their employment," Ms Flood said.
More here:
Well this really does explain a lot.
It explains just why so many Anonymous contributors comment on the blog and why the comments often seem to be so well informed.
It explains why a policy as conceptually stupid as the present design of the NEHRS is still, seemingly, being fully supported by DoHA despite the fact so many within DoHA know just how big a ‘dog’ they are stuck with and the mess that is going to be left after the whole thing is quietly shelved.
It explains why there is no properly informed debate in the public domain on the NEHRS initiative.
The terror which the Government feels in the face of well-informed criticism is pretty clear from the spin applied to various e-Health events. I almost choked on those infamous Wheaties when I discovered the Stakeholder Forum held by NEHTA last week had the amazing sobriquet of “NEHTA Stakeholder “Super Summit” - “Rallying the eHealth Champions””. What an inspiring event that must have been for all the brainwashed converted.
That this spinning has been going on for ages becomes clear when you read here:
It is very sad that what should be a really non-controversial e-Health strategy gets corrupted and distorted by a combination of lack of public discussion and review - remember how the initial release of the National E-Health Strategy was just a summary rather than the details - and spin.
The reasons why are just a little bit clearer.
David.