Tuesday, February 26, 2013



More Novopay fallout

After months of not being paid, teachers have finally had enough: they're going to court seeking compensation for the "hurt, humiliation and financial suffering" caused by Novopay. I don't think anyone will blame them for this - in fact, I'm wondering why the Department of Labour isn't doing their job and doing it for them. But unfortunately it won't impact on Talent2 at all. Why? Because their contract basically says they're not liable for their fuckups. If they make a mistake, resulting in loss, hurt, humiliation and financial damage, then the government pays for it. Possibly the government can then sue them for it, but even their their liability is capped at an agreed (but secret) amount (and they're required to have insurance, so they just don't have to care).

This is the "superior incentive scheme" offered by contracting out services: all risks are on the government, and the contractor collects a premium for it. Its a scam, pure and simple.

This is simply unacceptable. The public servants who drafted this contract and the Ministers who agreed to its provisions and signed it all need to be held accountable for it.