Former ACT Greens Murrumbidgee MLA Emma Davidson has detailed allegations against the Community Services Directorate, and particularly former director-general Catherine Rule. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
An independent MLA has described the alleged misconduct of several public servants, including a Director-General and the head of the ACT Public Service, as “alarming”, referring the claims to the standards commissioner.
The Standing Committee on Estimates 2025-26 published a letter from former Greens MLA Emma Davidson, sent to Chief Minister Andrew Barr on 6 August, outlining several claims following Head of Service Kathy Leigh’s appearance at the recent budget estimates hearings.
During these hearings, Ms Leigh had indicated she had not heard about or received any complaints about the impartiality of senior public servants, issues with administrative arrangements, or failures of senior public servants to follow appropriate ministerial reporting lines in the past five years.
In the letter, Ms Davidson outlined that she had contacted Ms Leigh several times in 2022 about such concerns.
Ms Davidson claimed the then-Community Services Directorate (CSD) director-general Catherine Rule was “not respecting the administrative arrangements”, stating she had not been briefed about policy for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility, despite being the Youth Justice Minister.
“It had become clear to me that the public service was instead working to instructions from Minister Rachel-Stephen Smith on youth justice aspects of the work, not just [her area of] child protection,” Ms Davidson wrote.
The former Greens MLA also claimed she had “received more information from news media than the public service” about a sensitive matter involving a young person in the justice system.
Public service staff also allegedly failed to inform Ms Davidson, when she was acting Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Children, Youth and Families, about the death of a 13-year-old boy in August 2022.
An emergency call for an ambulance on 5 August led to firefighters responding to the boy’s home. The boy was taken to Canberra Hospital and eventually transferred to Sydney Hospital, where he died on 12 August.
“[The] Community Services Directorate didn’t notify me [about the incident] until 11 August 2022 when I asked for a brief and made it clear that I had heard some information (but not via the Community Services Directorate or Minister Stephen-Smith’s office),” Ms Davidson wrote.
“Ms Rule had been phoning Minister Stephen-Smith in Singapore to update her on the situation as things were unfolding, but neglected to mention it to the acting Minister with legal responsibility.
“It is appropriate that Minister Stephen-Smith was informed about the matter when it occurred, but the acting Minister also needed to know.”
Ms Davidson said when she raised this concern with Ms Leigh, she was told Ms Rule would be spoken to about the situation.
“The only thing that changed after that was that Ms Rule often failed to attend weekly briefings, or cancelled our regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings at short notice,” she wrote.
In a published response to Ms Davidson’s letter, Ms Leigh wrote on 18 August that she had a different understanding of her conversations with the former Greens MLA.
Regarding Ms Davidson allegedly not being briefed about policies and issues, Ms Leigh said the problem was just being “put on my radar”.
“I understood from this telephone conversation that Minister Davidson was working with her director-general, not that she was making a complaint,” she wrote.
As for the concerns around communications about the boy’s death, Ms Leigh again took it as a concern rather than a complaint.
Independent Kurrajong MLA Thomas Emerson has referred all allegations to the Public Service Standards Commissioner. Photo: Supplied.
Kurrajong MLA Thomas Emerson had questioned Ms Leigh during budget estimates.
He said Ms Leigh’s negative responses to his questions about whether she had received complaints about senior public service staff, and the allegations in Ms Davidson’s letter, were concerning.
“To hear that, as a Minister, Ms Davidson learned more from the media about a serious matter in her portfolio than from her own directorate is alarming,” Mr Emerson said.
“I was surprised that the Committee did not receive a more fulsome response from the Head of Service.”
He’s asked the Public Sector Standards Commissioner to investigate whether Ms Davidson’s claims “reveal misconduct” in the ACT Public Service senior executive service, and for the Estimates Committee to consider whether Ms Leigh’s responses constituted contempt of the Assembly.
“The integrity of public institutions is core to their effectiveness,” Mr Emerson said.
“These allegations risk undermining public trust in the ACT Government and in our democratic institutions, and should be appropriately investigated.”
Ms Leigh briefly responded to the accusations against her.
“As outlined in my letter to the Committee, my intention was at all times to provide honest answers to the Committee,” she said.
“I hold the conduct of the ACT Public Service in the highest regard, upholding its values of integrity, accountability and service to the community.”
Chief Minister Andrew Barr told Region he had confidence in Ms Leigh.
“The Head of Service has responded to the matter directly through the Chair of the Estimates Committee, as is appropriate,” he said.
“Our public servants provide professional advice to the ACT Government of the day and deliver high-quality services to Canberrans. They are a valued and important part of democracy in the ACT.”
