Windfalls for near-retired State staff
More than two in five public servants who took voluntary redundancy from the State Government last year were aged 61 or older.
Figures tabled in State Parliament show of the 1112 voluntary redundancies in 2013-14, people aged 61 or older took up 484 of them.
The average retirement age of WA public servants is 63, according to the Public Sector Commission's State of the Sector report, prompting questions by the Opposition about whether the Government was getting good value for money.
It also questioned whether the redundancy program was necessary given 25 per cent of the sector was older than 55.
In all, the Government spent $119.8 million in redundancy payments in 2013-14, which does not include the value of accumulated annual leave, long service leave or superannuation.
It means the average redundancy payment was nearly $108,000.
Labor spokeswoman Kate Doust questioned the Government's management of the redundancy scheme.
"You can't blame someone, if voluntary redundancy is out there, for sitting down and doing the maths on their own personal situation," Ms Doust said.
"But at the end of the day, I don't think the Government is being terribly smart about how they've managed the whole process.
"It's another indicator of the Government's fiscal mismanagement and we lose that talent and experience in the public sector."
For the voluntary redundancy scheme, agencies had to satisfy themselves of a business case for positions being made redundant, with the Public Sector Commission approving severance offers.
"There is no mandatory retirement age and to discriminate on the basis of age would be unlawful," Premier and Minister for Public Sector Management Colin Barnett said.
"The Government's workforce renewal policy has sought to replace older, more highly paid public servants with younger employees."
Last year, the Auditor-General criticised agencies for discrepancies in how they calculated appropriate payments in lieu of notice.
