Mrs Armitage (Launceston) to ask the Honourable the Leader of the Government -

With reference to the Department of Treasury and Finance Revised Estimates Report 2014-2015 (including December Quarterly report) page 28 - Employee Separation Costs -

In the 2014-15 Budget, the Government indicated that funding to assist any cost of employee separations would be funded from established central resources consistent with previous approaches.

Funding of $10 million has been allocated to the Department of Health and Human Services and $10.4 million to the Department of State Growth, by way of a loan arrangement -

Can the Government provide a breakdown of where this funding has been allocated and for what occupations?

Answer:

The 2014-15 revised Estimates report included a provision of additional funding for agencies that require additional financial support to fund the cost of redundancies in 2014-15.

With regard to the Department of Health and Human Services, a provision of $10 million was included in the report which primarily relates to redundancy payments for the THOs that could not be met from within existing resources. As this was a preliminary provision based on forecasts by the THO prior to the completion of Expression of Interest processes, this provision was notionally applied to the Department of Health and Human Services. Accordingly, this provision was not allocated to particular areas, or relating to particular employees or occupations.

The allocation of these funds will be the subject of further review, following the completion of EOI processes and will only be applied where redundancy payments cannot be met.

Answer supplied May 27, 2015