Selected public servants may be called on, as part of their official duties, to explain or provide information to the media or the general public on their agencies' policies and activities. Chief executive officers will determine which officers shall be authorised to make public comment.
Those public servants who are empowered to make public comment should confine themselves to providing such information as is necessary to explain government policy or to provide factual, explanatory and background material pertinent to the question at hand.
In doing so, they should avoid making any comment which could undermine public confidence or disrupt the everyday administration of either the Public Service or the Government-of-the-day. To this end, they should:
Not give their personal views on matters of government policy or administration, or on advice made to government
Not speculate on future policy directions
Not publicly criticise any political party, its actions or its policies
Not prolong discussion or debate on an issue once a decision has been made, or a policy adopted.
728 - Media & Public Communications
Selected public servants may be called on, as part of their official duties, to explain or provide information to the media or the general public on their agencies' policies and activities. Chief executive officers will determine which officers shall be authorised to make public comment.
EFFECTIVE FROM 13 DECEMBER 1989
Page last updated 11 September 2012