Health chiefs get $1m in bonuses
07/04/2008(16:32)
Top Australian health executives received $1 million in performance bonuses last year.
Public health executive received the cash for "exceptional, superior performance", despite concerns about the condition of the country's health provision, reports the Sunday Age.
Public service executives can be paid up to 17 per cent of their salary in cash based on their performance.
However, Ken Coghill, director of Monash University's governance research unit and former Labor politician, said that studies show performance related bonuses do not work.
"It really is a myth that it has a significant effect. There is very little evidence that it is the most important thing that motivates people to do their job well," he told the newspaper.
The Education Department paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds to executives last year, while teachers fought for a 3.25 per cent pay rise.
Recently Kevin Rudd and Anna Bligh struck a deal which could mean Queensland's public hospitals get millions of dollars extra funding.
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