The State Government has backed new laws to further increase transparency around ministerial travel arrangements.

The Government has supported the Public Sector (Ministerial Travel Reports) Amendment Bill first proposed by Sarah Game MLC in the Legislative Council.

The new law requires each Minister who undertakes travel in their Ministerial capacity outside of South Australia to prepare a report within 45 days setting out the details of the travel including the reasons for the travel, period of the travel, and summary of activities undertaken in course of the travel.

The law will also extend the same transparency requirements to the Leaders and Deputy Leaders of the Opposition in both houses.

The Minister’s report must also include details of the total cost of their travel, broken down into the cost of airfares and other transport, the cost of accommodation, the cost of food and beverages, and the total of any other costs of travel.

The report must include details of any public sector employee or any ministerial adviser that accompanies the Minister, with a separate break down of the abovementioned costs for each person.

The law requires copies of all receipts for all costs relating to the travel to accompany the report and provides that reports must be tabled in Parliament within 6 sitting days after preparing a report.

Much of the information about Ministerial travel is already collated and proactively disclosed by Government, under a regime introduced by Labor.

Quotes

Attributable to Susan Close

Our Government seeks to hold the highest standards when it comes to disclosure, transparency and accountability.

It was a Labor government that introduced proactive disclosure of ministerial travel a decade ago, and now these new laws will further enhance that transparency regime.