Andrew Leigh

From Monday 3 September, Canberrans will be able to access both Medicare and Centrelink services in a single facility on Lonsdale Street, Braddon. The co-location will provide greater convenience, and will offer additional services such as a trial of Case Coordination for more complex job-seeking situations. I'm a big fan of trying new things to see what works in public policy and it's great to see this happening in my own electorate.

Despite a misleading scare campaign, it's clear that with the disabled parking spots out the front, the convenient location to Civic Bus Interchange and bus routes 7, 56 and 58 passing through Braddon, access to important services will still be easy.

More information is available in the media release below, or you can call my office on 6247 4396 or email me at Andrew.Leigh.MP {at} aph.gov.au if you have any additional queries.

MEDIA RELEASE

SENATOR KIM CARR

Minister for Human Services

DR ANDREW LEIGH MP

Member for Fraser7 August 2012

ONE-STOP-SHOP OPENS NEXT MONTH

Centrelink and Medicare services will work side-by-side under one roof for the convenience of Canberra residents as of Monday 3 September.

Minister for Human Services Senator Kim Carr and Dr Andrew Leigh announced that Canberra City residents would benefit from easier access to services at the one-stop-shop.

Member for Fraser, Dr Andrew Leigh welcomed the new centre to Braddon.

“Both Medicare and Centrelink services will be available from the Canberra City Service Centre at 13 Lonsdale Street, Monday to Friday,” Dr Leigh said.

“All staff and services currently provided by the Medicare Service Centre at Savings House, 8 Petrie Plaza will relocate to the new one-stop-shop on Lonsdale Street.

“Despite the scare campaign being run by Senator Humphries, the new facility is a benefit for the Canberra community. It will offer additional services such as electronic payment and Case Coordination. The disabled parking spots right out the front and location close to Civic will mean the facility is easily accessible.”



Dr Leigh said the one-stop-shop will offer new electronic payment options for Medicare services, in place of cash benefits.

“People can register their bank details to have their rebate deposited directly to their bank account the next business day. Alternatively they can swipe their debit card to receive their funds immediately,” said Dr Leigh.

“Registering your bank account details is easy and gives you the added option of claiming some benefits online or directly at your local doctor. Staff from the Civic Medicare Service Centre can advise which doctors in your area offer this facility.”

In addition to these services, Senator Kim Carr announced that the Canberra City Service Centre will also be introducing a trial of the Case Coordination program.

“Case Coordination is about finding tailored solutions for people with complex problems which are preventing them from realising their goals and aspirations, such as finding and keeping a job,” Senator Kim Carr said.

“Trained staff spend time one-on-one with people to better understand their circumstances.

“By getting the full picture of a person’s situation, staff can connect them with local community organisations that can provide the best individualised help.

Senator Kim Carr said the Government is expanding the number of locations across Australia where people can access Centrelink and Medicare services in one spot, as well as the number of sites offering the Case Coordination program.

"There are already more than 320 extra sites where both Medicare and Centrelink services can be accessed and there will be many more to come," Senator Kim Carr said.

“The Case Coordination program started in 2011 and is currently running at 20 sites.

“We intend to have 44 sites offering Case Coordination by 2014, so that more people around Australia can access this new way of providing services.”

Mark Parton hosted me on 2CC this morning to talk about my GP survey. We also had a brief chat about the Olympics, as well as Tony Abbott's hypocrisy on free speech.

Practice details	Contact details	Cost of consultation if paid at time	Do you bulk bill?	Opening hours	New patients
Belconnen Health Co-Op	30 Totterdell Street BELCONNEN Phone: 02 6251 0005	$33 if you have Medicare annually and $16.50 annually if you have a healthcare card.	Bulk billed for members.	Weekday: 8:30AM - 5:30PM	Yes.
Belconnen Medical Centre	Shop 106 Level 1 Westfield Shoppingtown Benjamin Way BELCONNEN Phone: 02 6251 8898	$65	Yes. *HCC *PNS *CHN	Weekday: 9:00 AM-5:30 PM Saturday: 9:30 PM - 2:00 PM Sunday: 3:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Charnwood Health Co-Op - Charnwood	20 Cartwright Street CHARNWOOD Phone: 02 6258 0355	$33 if you have Medicare annually and $16.50 annually if you have a healthcare card.	Bulk billed for members.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM	Yes.
Companion House - Cook Refugee and Asylum seeker	41 Templeton Street COOK Phone: 02 6251 4550	Completely bulk billed. It is a non-profit organisation.	N/A	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 AM	Refugee and asylum seekers only.
Dr M A Nambiar Family Practice	7 Beissel Street, Unit 14. BELCONNEN Phone: 02 6251 5055	$65-$140.	Up to doctors discretion.*CHN	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 5:30 AM	Yes.
Florey Medical Centre	Kesteven Street. FLOREY Phone: 02 6259 1444	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 8:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Sunday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Yes.
Ginninderra Medical and Dental Centre	Corner Nettlefold Street & Coulter Drive. BELCONNEN Phone: 02 6112 7111	Medicare card holders are bulk-billed.	Yes.	Weekday: 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM Saturday: 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM	Yes.
Giralang Surgery	Child Health Building Menkar Close GIRALANG Phone: 02 6241 6161	$75 but will change August.	Yes. *HCC *PNS *CHN	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM	Yes.
Hawker Medical Practice	3 Hawker Place. HAWKER Phone: 02 6255 2400	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM Sunday: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Yes.
University of Canberra Health & Counselling Centre	Building 1 Level B University of Canberra Kirinari Street BRUCE Phone: 02 6201 2351	As decided by doctor, but will usually range from $55-75. Staff of UC are discounted.	Bulk billed for Australian students of UC.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Higgins Medical Centre	Suite 2 3 Higgins Place HIGGINS Phone: 02 6254 8821	$75	Yes. *PNS *HCC	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Not assured.
Holt Medical Centre	Holt Place. HOLT Phone: 02 6254 3324	Unable to determine	No	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM	No
Jamison Medical Clinic	Unit 2 Jamison Shopping Centre Bowman Street MACQUARIE Phone: 02 6251 2300	$70	No.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM	No.
Kaleen Professional Centre	149 Maribyrnong Avenue. KALEEN Phone: 02 6241 3948	$70	Yes. *HCC *PNS *CONC	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
North Canberra Family Practice	Unit 1B 5B Chandler Street. BELCONNEN Phone: 02 6251 9006	$75	Up to doctor's discretion.	Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM Friday: 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
Scullin Medical Practice	Shop 1 Scullin Shopping Centre Scullin Arcade SCULLIN Phone: 02 6278 3488	Medicare card holders are bulk-billed.	Yes.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM	Yes.
Spence Medical Centre	2 Glassey Place SPENCE Phone: 02 6258 5981	$65	Yes. *HCC *PNS *CHN	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM	Yes.
Tillyard Drive Medical Centre	123 Tillyard Drive. CHARNWOOD Phone: 02 6259 7216	First appointment $105, standard $70	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM	Yes.
Gungahlin General Practice	Gungahlin Town Centre 129 Hinder Street GUNGAHLIN. Phone: 02 6241 0888	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM Sunday: 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM	Yes.
Gungahlin Medical Centre	43-49 Hibberson Street. GUNGAHLIN Phone: 02 6255 0888	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Sunday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
Palmerston Medical Centre	Palmerston Shopping Centre Tiptree Crescent PALMERSTON Phone: 02 6242 9464	$65	No.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM	No.
ANU Health Service	Ground Floor Sports Union Building 18 North Road. ACTON Phone: 02 6125 3598	$75 for unaffiliated. $66 for staff of ANU.	Bulk billed for students of ANU.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Ainslie Family Practice	21 Edgar Street AINSLIE. Phone: 02 6249 7177	$77	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM	Yes.
Barton General Practice	Suite 2 3 Sydney Avenue BARTON Phone: 02 6295 0424	$85	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
Blamey Place General Practice	Campbell Shopping Centre Blamey Place CAMPBELL Phone: 02 6249 7533	$70	No.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM	Yes.
City Family Practice	Floor 6 CPA Building 161 London Circuit CANBERRA Phone: 02 6248 0900	$75	No.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Dickson Health Centre	Antill Street. DICKSON Phone: 02 6248 6677	Medicare card holders are bulk-billed.	Yes.	Weekday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Dickson Medical and Travel Clinic	Suite 5 Dickson Park Professional Centre 151 Cowper Street. DICKSON Phone: 02 6257 3853	$75	Yes. Discretion of doctor.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM	Yes.
Garema Place Surgery	Floor 1 Florina Building Garema Place CITY Phone: 02 6257 1000	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Interchange General Practice	Level 3 28 University Avenue CITY Phone: 02 6247 5742	$75	Not usually. At discretion of doctor.	Saturday: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM Weekday: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM	No.
Majura Medical Centre	Shop 3 151 Cowper Street DICKSON Phone: 02 6247 5833	$75	No.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM	Yes.
Wakefield Gardens General Practice	99 Wakefield Gardens AINSLIE. Phone: 02 6257 4086	$70	No.	Weekday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM	No.
Watson Medical Centre	34 Windeyer Street WATSON Phone: 02 6248 7005	$75	Under 5, PNS and CONC are discounted.	Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Tuesday and Thursday: 8:30 AM - 6:15 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
Wattle Street Medical Practice	83 Wattle Street. O’CONNOR Phone: 02 6247 4807	$73	Doctor's discretion.	Weekday: 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Yes.
TriStar Medical Group	11/100 Eastern Valley Way BRUCE Phone: 02 6253 5444	Medicare card-holders are bulk-billed (except for WorkCover patients)	Yes.	Weekday: 8:00AM – 8:00 PM Saturday & Sunday: 8:00AM – 6:30PM	Yes.
YourGP@Lyneham	60 Brigalow St LYNEHAM Phone: 02 6162 2701	$75	No.	Monday - Friday: 8:30AM – 5:30PM	Yes.

Note that fees do not take account of the Medicare rebate (currently $35.60).

UPDATE 6/12/2012: You can now use an online directory which shows the addresses, opening times and phone numbers of GP clinics, pharmacies, emergency departments and hospitals in towns and cities across Australia.

The National Health Services Directory (www.nhsd.com.au) is a free service developed to provide patients accurate information about local health services wherever they are, whenever they want.

My latest survey is on Australia's humanitarian migrant intake. I'm interested in hearing from everyone, although I will take particular note of the responses from the Fraser electorate (given that they’re the people I have the honour to represent). You can fill in the survey below:

Today's AFR runs a cut-down version of Jason DeParle's New York Times magazine piece on family structure and mobility. They asked me to write a short column on the Australian situation to accompany it.

Family Dynamics Affect Poverty, Australian Financial Review, 3 August 2012, R7

There are two polar views on why poverty persists across generations. On the hardline conservative view, poverty is the result of bad choices: not staying in school, not taking a job, not waiting to have a child. At the other end of the spectrum is the view that poverty is simply a lack of money. Provide enough income support, and intergenerational poverty will disappear.

In our hearts, most of us know that neither of these views can be right. And yet many progressives have found the conservative view so harsh that we have recoiled from any discussion about the role that families play in determining children’s outcomes.

Friendly fire can also be a risk. When US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan issued a report in 1965 finding that poverty among African-Americans was partly driven by high rates of lone parenthood, he was criticised by many on the left for ‘blaming the victim’. Moynihan’s point – that it’s easier to raise a child with two adults than one – was misinterpreted as an attack on black sole parents.

In Australia, 19 percent of Australian children (and 34 percent of Indigenous children) live in lone parent households, up from about 10 percent in the late-1970s. The rise in lone parent households doesn’t have much to do with separation; it’s mostly driven by lower partnering rates.

Crunching census statistics, Monash University’s Genevieve Heard finds that the decline in partnering is strongly related to socioeconomic status. By their early-40s, 16 percent of university-trained men were not in a partnership, compared with 32 percent among men without qualifications. A similar story emerges for women. Since the 1990s, there has been a divergence across educational lines. University graduates are just as likely to partner up as they were in the 1990s, but partnering rates have fallen for the least educated. The result? Disadvantaged children have fewer parents in their homes than in the past.

Nothing has made me more in awe of single parents than having children. When both our boys are ill, my wife and I sometimes shake our heads and ask ‘how do sole parents do it?’. From speaking with constituents who are raising children on their own, I know what enormous sacrifices they make. Part of the problem with the current debate over family structure and child outcomes is that it ends up making single parents feel guilty, while letting absent parents off scot free. A better approach is the one that Barack Obama took in a speech delivered on Father’s Day 2008: ‘What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child – any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.’

Until now, I’ve focused on the impact of family structure on children’s outcomes. But an emerging literature suggests that parenting style matters too. In the US, researchers have shown that children of higher-educated parents are more likely to read books, and less likely to watch television. Affluent parents are less likely to use corporal punishment. Observing a small sample of families with toddlers, a pair of researchers found that professional parents addressed about 2000 words per hour to their children, while parents receiving welfare benefits addressed about 500 words per hour to their children.

We know less about this issue in Australia, but the evidence that exists seems to point in the same direction. In her analysis of Australian data, University of Chicago researcher Ariel Kalil and co-authors compare pre-schoolers with a university-educated mother with pre-schoolers whose mother does not have a high school qualification. They find that children with more highly-educated mothers average 22 minutes a day of reading and colouring, while children with lower-educated mothers average 16 minutes a day. Consequently, the two groups of children arrive at school with quite different levels of preparation. As a politician, this work screams out to me the need to get Australia’s best teachers in front of our most disadvantaged pupils.

The University of Chicago’s Susan Mayer once wrote a book titled What Money Can’t Buy, in which she discussed how her thinking on poverty had evolved. Over time, Mayer acknowledged, she had come to focus less on money, and more on social and cultural explanations for poverty. Understanding the family dynamics of poverty can help us craft smarter policy solutions.

For too long, progressives have been scared off issues of family structure and parenting by a fear of being misinterpreted as blaming some of the hardest-working people in society. But we should not ignore the body of scholarship showing that if we want to cut poverty and boost mobility, we must think seriously about what happens inside families.

Andrew Leigh is the federal member for Fraser, and the author of Disconnected (UNSW Press, 2010). His website is www.andrewleigh.com.

On Sky AM Agenda, I spoke with host Kieran Gilbert and Liberal MP Steve Ciobo about Australia's strong pipeline of mining investment, the review of the Fair Work Act, and how policymakers should respond to changes in the media landscape.

On ABC24, I spoke with Nick Grimm about my speech The Naked Truth? Media and Politics in the Digital Age.

I gave the inaugural 'Challenge Your Mind' lecture at the University of Canberra today, speaking on the topic of the media and politics.


The Naked Truth? Media and Politics in the Digital Age*

Andrew Leigh MP
Federal Member for Fraser
www.andrewleigh.com

‘Challenge Your Mind’ University of Canberra Public Lecture Series
1 August 2012

The Truth, Naked

At the end of 1992, a team of us got together at Sydney University to run for the student newspaper, Honi Soit. We needed a name with a hint of journalistic credibility and a bucketload of electoral appeal, and so we opted to call ourselves ‘The Naked Truth’.

We threw ourselves into the campaign with the kind of frisky eagerness only a dozen 20 year-olds can muster. By day we sang our campaign song to bemused classes, removing much of our clothing to reinforce the team name. By night we put up posters and chalked ‘The Naked Truth’ around the campus. One of our team, Verity Firth, even brought along her younger brother Charles to help out. A class of medical students promised to vote for us en bloc if a member of the Naked Truth team would streak through their lecture hall. One of us obliged.

And so my year as a journalist began. I interviewed Andrew Denton, Henri Szeps and Dorothy McRae-McMahon, went inside Long Bay jail and a submarine, spoke to a magician, a monk and a basketball commentator, and wrote about child sponsorship, biblical literalism and virtual reality machines. In a display of youthful chutzpah, I also reviewed a handful of sports cars, making me (I hope) the only motoring writer in the history of student journalism. When the 1993 election came around, I managed to get Keating and Hewson to answer twenty questions apiece.[1] The year even got me my first article in the Sydney Morning Herald, on illegal street racing.

I loved journalism, but even at the level of student journalism I found it hard. Pitching stories. Separating beef from bulldust. Staying objective. Since writing for Honi, I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words in newspapers: all of them opinion.

Because of that, I approach the topic of journalism with a modicum of trepidation. Plus, because I’m a politician, you should probably regard my views on journalists as akin to the views that a kangaroo has about gun ownership.

Read more

Handwashing and forceps, battlefield medicine and randomised trials in concentration camps: on 18 July 2012, I gave the opening address at the Primary Health Care Research Conference at the National Convention Centre, and used the chance to tell some of my favourite health care stories.

On behalf of Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, I addressed the Public Sector In-House Counsel Conference this morning.

Andrew Leigh MP on behalf of
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP

8^th Annual Public Sector In-House Counsel Conference 2012
30 July 2012


Ministerial Keynote Address:
In-house counsel: Delivering the benefits while avoiding the risks

Acknowledgements

First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Introduction

It is a pleasure to join you here today for the 8^th Public Sector In‑House Counsel Conference.

I regard myself as a lapsed lawyer, having practiced for only a short period in the mid-1990s, for Sydney law firms Coleman & Grieg and Minter Ellison. My last job in the legal profession was as Associate to former High Court Justice Michael Kirby.

Justice Kirby once told the story of how he became an in-house counsel. He had been offered a job at the firm Ebsworth & Ebsworth, but they withdrew the offer when one of the partners lost his seat in the federal election and had to take his old office back. (Politics has always had a little less job security than most occupations!)

Michael Kirby then took up a job with Hickson, Lakeman and Holcombe. He said of this experience: ‘Bruce Holcombe wanted me to be a kind of in-house counsel for the firm.  ...  I began appearing in court as advocate for a growing number of insurance companies willing to use a young solicitor in place of unloved barristers.  ...  It was very demanding.  Returning to the office at the end of a hard day of advocacy before a judge, I had to pick up the threads of my work as a solicitor.  I had to see witnesses and draft subpoenas.  I came to realise that, without support within the firm, it is very difficult to combine the life of an advocate with the ordinary life of a solicitor. ’

My time as associate to Michael Kirby was vital in shaping who I became in later life. Who knows – perhaps if the work of in-house counsel had been less demanding, he would never have joined the bench, and I might not be standing before you today!

The Commonwealth Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, has asked me to pass on her apologies for not being able to join you today, and she passes on her best wishes for a productive conference.

She actually referred to you as having a difficult, challenging and potentially dangerous job… not unlike lion tamers. I’m not sure who are the lions in that analogy – perhaps a few people come to mind for you!

Nicola has set a clear agenda in her seven months as the Commonwealth Attorney, ranging from improving access to justice for one-off litigants, and expanding diversity within the judiciary, through to consolidating and harmonising anti-discrimination law and strengthening Australia’s cyber security.

But she is also focussed on her role overseeing legal conduct, and legal expenditure, by the Commonwealth. And of course the expanding in-house legal teams across government have a big impact on government legal costs and legal capacity.

And those costs are significant: in the 2010-11 financial year, Commonwealth legal expenditure reached $676 million, split roughly evenly between internal and external spending.

That’s why I’ve titled my speech “Delivering the benefits while avoiding the risks”. There are undeniable reasons why in-house teams make sense, not least the efficient use of taxpayer dollars. But there are risks, too – maybe the lions I mentioned earlier – that you face every day: potential compromises to your independence and objectivity that mean in-house teams and Counsel must be always on guard against complacency.

And beyond your own team and agency, it is a task for Government to ensure the benefits of in-house teams are not simply short-term savings leading to long-term costs.

This includes recognising that a strong, cost-effective, sustainable Australian Government Solicitor remains vital to government legal work. In-house teams and the AGS must complement each other, in a competitive environment – a balance that is sometimes difficult to achieve in practice.

This morning I’d also like to discuss recent examples of where in-house teams have contributed strongly to the Government’s policy agenda, and responded swiftly to major decisions.

And I want to outline some structures this Government is putting in place that will ensure you are able to work in a strong, supportive environment with appropriate oversight and career development opportunities.

The role of in-house government lawyers

As Government lawyers you are uniquely placed, both within the legal profession and within the Australian Public Service. The expectations on you, and the environment in which you operate, sets you apart from your colleagues in the legal profession more broadly.

In recent years, there has been significant growth of in-house government legal practices. Your practices provide vital services to agencies and to the Commonwealth more broadly. However, as recent reviews of government legal expenditure have acknowledged, the largely uncoordinated expansion of government in‑house practices has also created some problems.

For example: potential inefficiencies and duplication of legal advice.

This in no way intends to undermine the importance of independent practices within Commonwealth agencies. Government lawyers are critical in supporting individual agencies strategic objectives.

You have an intimate understanding of your agency’s business, and can contribute significant value to your legal advice using your subject matter expertise.

However, the Attorney considers the Australian Government as a whole must be better equipped to draw on your expertise. The key, as always, is to ensure that lawyers across the Commonwealth are better connected to each other and to the role of the Attorney-General as First Law Officer.

Government lawyers should be connected with their practice area and agency’s executive – that’s the best way to ensure you are responsive and providing high-quality, reliable advice – but more broadly be connected with the government legal profession and the Commonwealth.



Recent action involving in-house teams

The Attorney-General, as First Law Officer of the Commonwealth, is the government’s principal legal advisor, with a special obligation to ensure the government complies with the law.  This of course makes her role quite distinct from that of any other Minister, with additional requirements and considerations to take into account.

This combination of Ministerial and First law Officer duties was brought into sharp relief in the Government’s response to the High Court’s decision in Williams.

I think more than a few of you are still having nightmares about this decision and its aftermath!

For those of you without a shiver going up your spine at its mere mention, Williams involved a challenge to the constitutional basis for the Commonwealth's activities and expenditure in relation to the National School Chaplaincy and Welfare Program.

The Government conducted extensive contingency planning for a wide range of possible outcomes, particularly analysis by in-house teams as to portfolio programs potentially at risk in the event of an adverse decision.

In the event, the High Court judgment invalidated an agreement made by the Commonwealth under the National School Chaplaincy Program by a 6:1 majority – but with split reasoning amongst the majority.

The Williams decision overturned the understanding on which the Commonwealth had acted since federation, that the Commonwealth could develop and administer spending programs without the need for legislative authority for those programs.

To put it frankly, this was not the result the Government expected – but it was one that the government was prepared to address.

The Attorney recently referred to the Government’s response, involving drafting and enacting legislation within 8 days of the decision, as extraordinarily efficient, and sensibly pragmatic - but a bit lucky too.

The efficiency lay with the in-house teams at the forefront of the response, alongside colleagues from AGS and the acting Solicitor-General, and parliamentary drafter (apparently drafting in shifts, which creates a vision of a Dickensian workhouse!).

The Attorney, of course, had a dual role of interpreting the implications and leading the Executive response to the decision.

And the luck resided in the timing of the decision itself, with a week of Parliament to go ahead of a long break. Had Parliament not been sitting for an extended time, what would the public officials spending money on these other programs have done?

Another of the topical issues facing government lawyers right now is the Government’s defence of legal challenges to the plain packaging of tobacco products, a world first tobacco control reform which the Government introduced last year.

This is an excellent example of where in-house teams, AGS and counsel have worked together for a common goal.

The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 requires all tobacco to be sold in drab dark brown packaging, with no industry logos, brand imagery, colours or promotional text, from 1 December this year.  Plain packaging eliminates one of the last remaining avenues for tobacco companies to market their products.

As you will no doubt be aware, the tobacco industry has launched a concerted legal campaign to fight plain packaging.

The Government is defending itself in the High Court, WTO and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

While investor-State disputes are relatively common in other regions, this is the first time one has been brought against Australia.  This is just one example of the sorts of evolving issues being faced by government lawyers in AGD, DoHA and DFAT.

Commonwealth Legal Services Reforms

Figures on Commonwealth legal services expenditure have captured the media’s attention over the last couple of years.

As mentioned earlier, the 2010-11 Commonwealth Legal Services Expenditure Report showed that Commonwealth agencies spent  $676 million on legal services in the last financial year.  To break this figure down, Commonwealth agencies spent $365 million on external legal services and $311.5 million on internal services.

This is taxpayers’ money and it’s important we ensure that we actively pursue whole-of-government reforms to reduce that expenditure.

I acknowledge that this raises a significant challenge – on the one hand we need to reduce what we spend. While on the other, we need to ensure that the Commonwealth continues to receive high quality advice, delivered on time, and on budget.

The Legal Services Multi-Use List is a key part of the reforms the Australian Government is rolling out to enhance the delivery and management of legal services.

Ultimately, this reform will help the Australian Government get value for money when purchasing its external legal services through cutting red tape and driving cost-efficiency.

You might be familiar with the Gruen report. The report found that in the 2009-10 financial year, a staggering 89% of professional fees were earned by just 10 law firms.

The Gruen report suggested that the high proportion of fees to such a small number of firms was largely due to the way legal panels acted as a barrier to entry into the Commonwealth legal services market.

This situation led to duplication in tendering costs with some 72 legal services panels being established across the Commonwealth. It is estimated that each panel cost agencies an average of $120,000.

The Legal Services Multi-Use List addresses this unnecessary duplication by centralising the pre‑qualification of legal services providers to the Australian Government.

It should also make your job easier – instead of your agency or team having to go through extensive tendering for each piece of work, the list will allow to spend more time ensuring work is allocated efficiently and according to expertise internally and externally.

While many of you will not be required to start using the List immediately, this new-found flexibility will allow you to scope the market and start to draw on the benefits of the List during the transition period.

Another key feature of the List is that it provides a platform for sharing information at a whole-of-government level. Agencies from across the Commonwealth can now easily exchange notes on the performance of listed law firms.

Increasing information sharing will enhance the Commonwealth’s role as an informed purchaser of legal services. Becoming an ‘informed purchaser’ of legal services is yet another example of the unique set of skills government lawyers are required to possess.

Government Legal Network

Another key element of the reforms includes the establishment of an Australian Government Legal Network. This reform is designed to enhance existing legal and practice management skills across government, and to attract the best lawyers to the public sector.

I am very pleased to announce today, on behalf of the Attorney, the appointment of nine members who will make up the first Australian Government Legal Network Board. They are:

Ms Libby Carroll - Principal Lawyer, Murray Darling Basin Authority;

Air Commodore - Paul Cronan – Director‑General, Australian Defence Force Legal Service;

Mr Anthony Field - Chief Lawyer, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs;

Ms Elissa Keen - Deputy General Counsel, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission;

Ms Liesl O’Meara - Special Counsel to CEO Defence Material Organisation;

Mr Cliff Pettit - Executive Director, Legal, Office of the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate;

Ms Janean Richards - Assistant Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department;

Ms Janine Webster - Chief Counsel, Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman;  and

Mr Brett Walker - General Counsel, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

The appointed members have an impressive range of skills to bring to the Board.  I congratulate them on their appointment and welcome their contribution to establishing the Network.

While there is still a way to go to build a better practice model in the Commonwealth and this Government is committed to progressing important reforms to delivery of legal services both by, and to, government agencies.

The introduction of the Legal Services Multi-Use List and the establishment of a network for government lawyers are obviously steps in the right direction.

Court and AAT reform

The last significant reform I would like to touch on today is reform of our judicial and administrative review systems.

Many of you engage in litigation on behalf of your agency, so you have a direct interest in a strong, functioning, reliable and efficient court system.

The Attorney have been working with the federal courts to implement a reform agenda to foster openness and transparency, accessibility, efficient administration and timely resolution, as well as introducing legislation to establish the new Military Court of Australia, and Bills to provide a clear complaints-handling process against Judges.

You may also be aware that the Government recently released the Skehill review into agencies within the Attorney-General’s portfolio, including the AAT.

The Government supports the Review’s recommendation to establish a forum encompassing the five major Commonwealth merits review tribunals to identify initiatives for further efficiencies between them.

The Attorney has also appointed a new President of the AAT, the Hon Duncan Kerr SC, to lead this forum and to take an active role in spreading best practice amongst all Commonwealth administrative tribunals, as well as leading culture change within the AAT itself.

Conclusion

With that, let me bring my remarks to a close.

You have a splendid lineup of speakers ahead over the next two days. Your next presenter, Christopher Behrens, has kindly shared with me his paper on Alternative Dispute Resolution and its role in timely resolution of disputes. He will make some powerful points about the impact of delays – a reminder of Gladstone’s great maxim: ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. Christopher’s discussion of how effective ADR operates also made me recall a quip my ADR lecturer used to describe high-powered contract mediations in Sydney. To choose a mediator, each party writes down in order the ten people they would most like to have facilitate their dispute. Then they choose Sir Laurence Street.

On behalf of the Attorney, I thank you for your hard work and dedication in delivering high-quality legal services to your portfolio and the Government. We appreciate the time that goes into preparing various reports, such as reporting on significant issues to the Attorney-General’s Department.

The key message I would like to leave you with today, is that there is one government legal profession. As individual lawyers and practices across the Commonwealth, we must work more collaboratively with our colleagues in other agencies to continue to provide world-class legal services to Government.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of the conference.