In this parliamentary session, the Governor Gary Juffa, Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Public Sector Reforms directs a series of hard-hitting questions to the Minister for Public Service regarding the Government’s newly signed agreement with Dayforce Australia to overhaul Papua New Guinea’s public service payroll system.
The questions follows Deloitte audit that uncovered widespread payroll irregularities across the public service — including ghost employees, duplicate records, unauthorized allowances, and serious weaknesses in internal controls that cost PNG taxpayers millions of kina in public funds.
Key questions raised include:
How will the new system detect and remove ghost workers and duplicate records?
What safeguards will prevent unauthorized salary adjustments and manual manipulation?
Who holds ultimate administrative control — Government or Dayforce?
What is the total contract value including licensing and maintenance fees?
What penalties exist if the system fails to deliver on its promises?
The Minister for Public Service responds with major announcements:
A Master Service Agreement with Dayforce Australia was signed in Sydney
The payroll will be fully transferred from the Department of Finance to the Department of Personal Management
The system upgrades from Version 12 to Version 24 — fully electronic, end-to-end
Individual officer passwords will create a complete audit trail for every transaction
A formal handover ceremony is expected before end of month
With the Government spending K200–300 million every fortnight to pay over 60,000 public servants, this reform represents one of the most significant public financial management changes in PNG’s recent history.
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