The nation’s top bureaucrats want the Albanese government to ban video footage from parliamentary hearings being edited and shared on social media, in an extraordinary attempt to stop online ridicule and abuse.
But the Greens say highly paid public service chiefs shouldn’t be allowed to control footage from open parliamentary hearings, warning the proposed controls would limit a key tool of government transparency.
The secretaries board – made up of the heads of government departments and chaired by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet boss, Steven Kennedy – said they were concerned about material from hearings being presented online without proper context.
Politicians and political parties doing so exposed officials to “ridicule, hostility and abuse”, the board said.
“Recognising the evidence provided to a committee is on the public record, these officials have not consented to a subsequent use of their image, or its use by parliamentarians and their political parties for party-political purposes,” the board said in a submission published on Monday.
“In our view, the use of officials’ likenesses and their evidence in this way has the potential to be harmful both to the individual and the public sector as a whole.”
If the recommendations are not taken up, the board called for rules that would stop videos being edited or having captions added. Politicians would also be stopped from sharing content or commentary that targets individual officials for ridicule or harassment.
Calling for footage of full hearings and transcripts to be made available instead of clips, and for comments to be disabled, the board said its proposal would ensure “that scrutiny remains focused on evidence, administration and accountability rather than becoming personal”.
The proposal also includes concerns that members of parliament might not have a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities of public servants, when compared with government ministers. The board called for clearer explanation, including for newer MPs.
The push comes after the defence department deputy secretary Celia Perkins told a parliamentary hearing last week that public servants giving evidence did not consent to footage being shared on social media.
“They do not consent to the reposting of our evidence to social media sites or the reproduction of our likenesses for the purposes outside the framework of the parliament and the transparent public proceedings of this committee,” Perkins said.
The Senate foreign affairs, defence and trade committee rejected Perkins’ request on the advice of the Senate clerk.
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May told Guardian Australia that members of the public had the right to see footage from hearings into government scrutiny.
“Bureaucrats shouldn’t get to decide where to draw the line on parliamentary scrutiny, particularly when they’re the ones being scrutinised,” she said.
“Of course debate should be respectful, but restricting what parliamentarians can post from public proceedings is not the answer.
“This looks like an attempt to take the teeth out of parliamentary scrutiny. Australians deserve more transparency and accountability, not less. And frankly, if this scrutiny wasn’t having an impact, they wouldn’t be so worried about it.”
The secretaries board includes all departmental chiefs, the Australian Public Service commissioner and the chief executive of the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
