Keypoints

Attachment: DLO Notification Form

The Minister may request that a department/agency head assign a DLO to the Minister's office.

The role of the DLO is to provide the Minister's office with a readily accessible source of knowledge and skills regarding the operations of the department/agency(s) within the Minister's portfolio.

DLOs are distinguishable from other staff of Ministers' offices in terms of their employer and their status as public employees.

The following conditions apply to the assignment of DLOs to Ministers' offices:

• DLOs remain officers/employees of their home department/agency, and remain on the payroll of that department/agency.
• Before commencing assignments as DLOs, agencies must complete and submit the attached commencement form to DPC, preferably two weeks prior to the official start date. This step is essential for work health and safety reasons and to ensure that the right ICT equipment and access is available on commencement.
• During assignment to a Minister's office, the DLO's home department/agency Code of Conduct will continue to apply*. DLOs must be politically neutral and impartial while assisting Ministers to achieve their objectives. They must also avoid work situations that involve party political activities.
• DLOs should be identified by departments/agencies having regard to specialised skills, knowledge and experience, or may be selected competitively through an internal EOI process. External recruitment by departments/agencies needs to be in accordance with normal recruitment practice.
• The duration of DLO assignments usually should not exceed 18 months, but longer assignments may be approved by the department/agency head where a specific need is identified and documented.
• DLOs may be assigned to perform administrative support roles, agency contact roles, or specialist adviser roles. For day-to-day management purposes, DLOs are supervised by the Minister's Chief of Staff, and are not to be issued with agency credit cards or exercise any agency financial delegations.
• Employee-related costs of DLOs are to be met from the budgets of home departments/agencies. Other costs, eg transport and accommodation for official business, are to be met from Ministers' office budgets.
• DPC must be notified of DLO departures by emailing [email protected].

Chris Eccles
Director General

Disclaimer: * An amendment was made to this Circular in March 2014, due to the commencement of the Members of Parliament Staff Act 2013, on 24 February 2014. Prior to this date, the DPC Code of Conduct applied to DLOs.