The ACT Legislative Assembly's Speaker and Clerk have labelled reports the parliament lacks a COVID safety plan as "unequivocally and factually incorrect".
The saga over the cancelled ACT budget estimates hearings has dragged on for a third day as a WorkSafe prohibition notice is still in place.
The Assembly's select estimates committee issued a statement late on Tuesday confirming hearings would be delayed for an entire week over a stand-off over COVID safety precautions.
Hearings will begin as scheduled on Monday, August 22, provided the prohibition notice has been lifted, with the hearings scheduled to take place this week to begin on August 29.
The notice was given to the Assembly as inspectors from the ACT's workplace safety watchdog were unable to find any evidence of a risk assessment undertaken at the Legislative Assembly.
The issuing of the notice has devolved into a privileges scandal in the territory's parliament, with Assembly officials accusing the watchdog of breaching the separation of powers.
Speaker Joy Burch and Clerk Tom Duncan were forced to defend COVID safety in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
A statement from the Speaker's office said the Assembly has had a COVID-safe plan in place since June 2020 and this was regularly reviewed and update by the Assembly's work health and safety committee.
"Both the Speaker and the Clerk of the Assembly take COVID safety very seriously and have provided COVID-safe updates to all members and staff of the Legislative Assembly regularly throughout the pandemic," the statement said.
"All COVID-safe measures will continue and as has been the practice since 2020, all necessary efforts will be taken to ensure the safety of members and staff in the Assembly."
The WorkSafe notice was prompted after concerns were raised about all officials having to attend hearings in-person.
Workplace Safety Minister Mick Gentleman had raised those concerns with committee chair James Milligan but he said on Wednesday he did not complain or ask WorkSafe to investigate.
He said the government had asked for advice from WorkSafe about the proposal for in-person hearings. Mr Gentleman said territory public servants had raised concerns about having 40 people in one room in a confined space.
"I was very concerned about those numbers in a confined space," he said on ABC radio.
However, each room in the Legislative Assembly has a sign with the number of people permitted in each room under its COVID-safe plan.
The Prince Edward Island Room, where hearings are held, only has a maximum capacity of 21 people. The second committee room only has a capacity for 16 people. Meaning 40 people would not be crammed in the one room.
Previous estimate hearings have been scheduled based on individual budget outputs but this year hearings have been scheduled by directorates meaning all officials would need to have been in attendance for the entire hearing.
Mr Gentleman had pushed for a hybrid model where ministers would attend hearings in-person but officials were able to attend remotely.
Ms Burch has threatened to take legal action against WorkSafe ACT in the Supreme Court over the issuing of the notice.
She said the matter was of "deep constitutional significance".
Mr Gentleman was asked about the possible action on Wednesday and said it was a matter for the Speaker and Clerk but said it was a concern.
"It's certainly a concern for me but I will be supporting my staff and our public servants in ensuring that we can have safe workplaces in the future," he said.
The Workplace Safety Minister said he has not spoken to Ms Burch about her position.
"I think we need a division here of my position as the Minister for Workplace Safety and her position as the Speaker, certainly those positions have been well aired and if there is a court case pending then we need to be careful about the way we have those discussions in a formal sense," he said.
Over recent days, the select committee on estimates has undertaken a risk assessment on holding hearings and is hopeful this will allow hearings to resume next week.
The committee said it was consulting with witnesses and would only invite ministers, Legislative Assembly offices, statutory officers and the Speaker.
Public servants would be unable to attend at this stage, the committee said.
There are three members in the committee: Mr Milligan, deputy chair Andrew Braddock and Marisa Paterson.
The Canberra Times understands the committee's majority view was the estimates hearings should be held in person, rather than by teleconference.
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