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What do I need to think about first?
Part of any effective selection process will be a preliminary planning phase, during which the responsible employees will usually:
- authorise the filling of an employment opportunity
- decide how to fill an employment opportunity
- decide on selection requirements.
Except in specific circumstances, all selection decisions made by an Agency Head (or delegate) on the engagement or promotion of an ongoing employee must be made on the basis of a merit selection exercise, and must be notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Public Service Gazette (‘the Gazette’). These circumstances include the employment of people with intellectual disability (refer to Public Service Commissioner’s Direction 4.2(6)54 and Commission Circular 2006/655).
Where an agency wishes to pursue the employment of a person with an intellectual disability they should discuss it with an agency in the Disability Employment Network,56 a network of employment support agencies that has been established across Australia to support the employment of people with disability. Discussions of this kind will help in deciding whether a particular position is suitable for a person with intellectual disability.
Agencies are free to choose the selection tools, for example, interviews, work-based tests, referee comments, assessment centres, to be used to assess people for engagement, promotion, reassignment of duties and movement. However, whatever processes are chosen, care should be exercised to ensure that they will deliver an outcome that is genuinely merit-based, and that they do not discriminate unfairly against people with disability.
Advertising vacancies
The Commissioner's Directions require that all employment opportunities for ongoing employment be notified in the Gazette.
The decision whether any additional advertising is required, and the form it should take (e.g. Internet or press), will need to be made during the selection process. This decision should be informed by any relevant policies that exist within the agency, including any policies that exist concerning the recruitment of people with disability.
People with disability often access different recruitment streams, and it may be useful to advertise vacancies with JobSearch,57 the National Disability Recruitment Co-ordinator,58 or with a vocational rehabilitation service such as CRS Australia.59 More detail on these agencies is set out at 'Places to go for information'.
Agencies may wish to indicate, where this is appropriate, that they are particularly interested in seeking applications from people with disability. Section 45 of the DD Act allows such special measures to be taken to support equal opportunity in employment.
All applications received would, of course, need to be treated on their own merits, and a statement such as this within an advertisement does not imply that applications from people with disability would receive special treatment in any way once received. The Public Service Act requirement that employment decisions be made on the basis of merit would still apply.
What do we mean when we talk about applying merit?
Merit as articulated in the APS Values in section 10(1)(b) of the Public Service Act 1999 is a fundamental principle of APS employment.
Under the Public Service Act, merit, in relation to engagements and promotions, must involve a fair and transparent competitive selection process that assesses the relative suitability of applicants for the duties.
Other employment decisions such as movements at level (i.e. transfers) and the temporary assignment of ‘higher duties’ do not require competitive selection processes in order to be based on merit, but must involve an assessment of the person against the work-related qualities required for efficient and effective organisational performance. Circumstances like this often provide valuable development opportunities, at or above their normal classification, for any staff member.
In each case, the decision maker is required to focus on the ability of the person to meet the genuine requirements of the duties. This mirrors the basic test under the DD Act, that is, whether the person can meet the inherent requirements of the position with reasonable adjustment having been made.
Employees with disability should be considered fairly for such opportunities. Managers will need to be careful that they don’t assume that employees with disability cannot do other jobs, or accept higher levels of responsibility. As with every other employee, they should talk to the relevant staff members and sound out with them whether they wish to accept the opportunity and, if so, what adjustments might need to be made.
54 http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/instruments/0/26/pdf/2004072601.pdf
55 http://www.apsc.gov.au/circulars/circular066.htm
56 http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/Employers/Getting+advice+and+support/ProvidersofAustralianGovtEmploymentServices.htm
