Queensland Numbered Acts

PUBLIC SECTOR ACT 2022 - SECT 91

91 Grounds for discipline

(1) A public sector employee’s chief executive may discipline the employee if the chief executive is reasonably satisfied the employee has—

(a) engaged in repeated unsatisfactory performance or serious under performance of the employee’s duties, including, for example, by performing duties carelessly, incompetently or inefficiently; or

(b) been guilty of misconduct; or

(c) been absent from duty without approved leave and without reasonable excuse; or

(d) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a direction given to the employee as a public sector employee by a responsible person; or

(e) used, without reasonable excuse, a substance to an extent that has adversely affected the competent performance of the employee’s duties; or

(f) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a requirement of the chief executive under section 71 in relation to the employee’s employment or secondment by, in response to the requirement—

(i) failing to disclose a serious disciplinary action; or

(ii) giving false or misleading information; or

(g) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a provision of—

(i) this Act, other than section 39 or 40 ; or

(ii) another Act that applies to the employee in relation to the employee’s employment; or

(h) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a relevant standard of conduct in a way that is sufficiently serious to warrant disciplinary action.

(2) A disciplinary ground arises when the act or omission constituting the ground is done or made.

(3) Also, a chief executive may discipline, on the same grounds mentioned in subsection (1) , a public sector employee under section 94 or a person under section 95 .

(4) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a disciplinary ground does not arise in relation to a public sector employee only because the employee’s work performance or personal conduct fails to satisfy the work performance and personal conduct principles or the public sector principles.

(5) In this section—

"misconduct" means—

(a) inappropriate or improper conduct in an official capacity; or

(b) inappropriate or improper conduct in a private capacity that reflects seriously and adversely on the public sector entity in which the employee is employed.

Example of misconduct—

victimising another public sector employee in the course of the other employee’s employment in the public sector

"relevant standard of conduct" —

(a) for a public sector employee, means—

(i) a standard of conduct applying to the employee under an approved code of conduct under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 ; or

(ii) a standard of conduct, if any, applying to the employee under an approved standard of practice under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 ; and

(b) for a public sector employee who is an ambulance officer under the Ambulance Service Act 1991 , section 13 (1) —includes a code of practice under section 41 of that Act; and

(c) for a public sector employee who is a fire service officer under the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990 —includes a code of practice under section 7B of that Act.

"responsible person" , for a direction, means a person with authority to give the direction, whether the authority derives from this Act or another law.