Rudd Government to remove gagging clauses

For the past decade the Australian Federal Government has inserted gagging clauses into service delivery contracts with the not for profit sectors. These clauses were designed to prevent service delivery organisations from speaking out on the state of their sector. The impact is muted advocacy. A Government that does not wish to hear off the problems does not have to work towards solving those problems.

The recently elected Rudd Government has moved quickly to indicate that such clauses will be removed from future contracts - a brief window of opportunity for meaningful dialogue - at least until the next authoritarian government is elected - or the current government begins to find the truth a tad unpalatable!

On the surface the removal of gagging clauses is a relatively easy political decision and it appears to have little downside. However the removal of gagging clauses is much more than a political stunt. It opens the door to dialogue between from the three sides of the social service triangle; those that fund service delivery, those that deliver the services and those consumers that actually need the services. It is important the channels of communication are open, in both directions and that the feedback to fed, unfiltered, to Government ministers.

The challenge for the not for profit and community sectors is to work with both the Government and their consumers to develop effective channels of communication. Government ministers are a long way from the coalface, there are a lot of layers of people in between those that dispense the funds and those that need the services. Many of those people in the middle are bureaucrats and many of them have their own agenda. Sector peak bodies, lobbyists and influencial organisations within the sector have a responsibility to gather information and present it to Ministers in a clear and truthful manner. There is little difference between a Government that gags sector representatives and a sector that tries to use information to manipulate for mislead Government; the outcome will be the same, poor information, lack of trust and poor political decision making.

The removal of gagging clauses opens up the potential for increased civil advocacy. Opportunities will be created for increased dialogue. Ministers can be made more aware of the real issues. The Rudd Government is to be congratulated for its moves in this direction, exposing themselves to the truth may from time to time be an unpleasant experience and there will be those amongst their adviser that will from time to time advocate a return to a more restrictive regime. It is a fundamental tenant of a fair and just society that all groups and all peoples are enabled to speak out and to be able to do so without fear of retribution.