Senate orders PM&C Secretary to explain social media evidence request

The Australian Senate has directed Steven Kennedy, Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), to appear at a Senate Estimates hearing in two weeks. The directive follows a request from senior public servants to restrict the sharing of their public parliamentary evidence on social media.

The controversy stems from concerns raised by officials, including Defence Deputy Secretary Celia Perkins, who stated that witnesses do not consent to the reproduction of their likenesses or evidence on social media platforms outside of the parliamentary framework. The APS Secretaries Board, chaired by Kennedy, has previously submitted that social media posts are frequently used to ridicule officials or are taken out of context.

Critics, including Senator David Shoebridge, have challenged the proposal, arguing that evidence provided in open public hearings should not be subject to censorship by witnesses.