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Last updated: 4 July 2003

The Australian experience of public sector reform

Chapter 4 - Staffing the public service

Size and shape of the APS

In Australia's current population of almost 20 million around half are employed. Of this 10 million, a little over 1.5 million, or around 15 per cent, are employed by government. This public sector workforce is made up of the three levels of government-national (federal or Commonwealth), state and local government-of which the state government workforce is by far the largest at around 73 per cent of the total. This reflects the states' dominant role in service delivery, including health, education, transport and policing.

The Commonwealth government sector is made up of two groups; those included in what is deemed to be the core public service and employed under the Public Service Act (PS Act), and usually referred to as the Australian Public Service; and those working in other administrative or regulatory statutory authorities, government business enterprises and government-owned companies, who are administered and employed outside the PS Act, often under their own legislation.

Figure 5: Public sector—employees in each sector as at June 2002

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, (catalogue no. 6248.0).

The size of the APS workforce has reduced significantly over recent decades and, as at June 2002, numbered almost 123 500. At its highest point, in 1975, it was more than double its current size, reaching 277 455, but the transfer of postal and telecommunications responsibilities from a department to two government authorities in 1975 resulted in 121 000 staff being transferred out of the APS.

From then until the mid 1990s, the main reductions have come from further transfer of functions and staff into other government organisations and from corporatisation and privatisation. Between 1996 and 1999, significant functional cuts, efficiency improvements and market testing, leading to contracting out of functions, resulted in a rapid decline in absolute numbers-from around 143 000 to around 113 500. Since then, the long-term decline in the size of the APS has plateaued out and in fact reversed a little.

The APS workforce is ageing, with a greater concentration of older employees at more senior levels. The median age for all staff has increased from 37 in 1993 to 41 in June 2002. The APS is also older than the Australian workforce in general, interestingly with both fewer young employees and fewer old employees than elsewhere.

Figure 6: Age of Australian employees compared to APS employees

Source: Management Advisory Committee 2003, Organisational renewal.

It is also becoming better educated, with an estimated 62 per cent of all those recruited in 2001-02 having tertiary qualifications. Since the removal, in 1966, of legislation that prohibited permanent employment of married women, the proportion of women employed has increased, so that women now constitute 52 per cent of all career public servants.

Figure 7: Ongoing* public servants by gender 1993–2002

Source: APSC 2002, State of the Service report 2001–02.
*NB. Ongoing employees are career public servants. See the later section—Categories of employee.

A typical new recruit in 2001-02 would be aged 32 and more likely to be a woman than a man.

Further demographic information is included throughout this chapter and the sources are identified at the end of the chapter.

Devolution and the APS Values

As noted in previous chapters, responsibility for staffing the public service has been devolved from central agencies to the array of departments and agencies that make up the APS, and the various authorities and government business enterprises operating outside the core public service. Central agencies have become predominantly advisors and facilitators. Agency heads now have employment powers, subject to the workplace relations framework, including hiring and firing of employees, and the setting of remuneration and terms and conditions of employment.

These powers are exercised within a framework of the APS Values together with a code of conduct for all APS employees. This Values framework, along with enhanced accountability for agency performance, balances the devolution of powers.

Since their incorporation into the 1999 PS Act, the Values have established 'the way we work around here', guiding relationships between public servants and the government and Parliament, relationships with the public, relationships in the workplace, as well as personal ethical behaviour. They reflect the APS' particular institutional framework, but also reflect universal principles such as honesty, integrity, diligence and respect.

The Values are generic throughout the Service, and agency heads are required, under the Act, to uphold and promote them in their organisations. The Public Service Commissioner evaluates the extent to which agencies uphold the Values, and the adequacy of their systems and procedures for ensuring compliance with the code of conduct. The Values framework is designed, however, to give agencies flexibility to address their particular business needs and respond quickly to change.

Staffing the Service through merit

One of the core principles of APS employment is recruitment and advancement on the basis of merit. Merit means:

• open advertising to ensure all eligible applicants in the community have a reasonable opportunity to apply for APS employment
• the selection process is transparent, and is seen to be applied fairly to all applicants
• the assessment process is able realistically to match the qualities of the applicant to the qualities genuinely required for the job
• there is no patronage or favouritism and no Ministerial involvement in individual staffing decisions.

These principles are now embodied in the current PS Act and the Public Service Commissioner's Directions.

Historically, most recruits to the APS entered at junior or base level jobs with few opportunities for entry to the Service at middle level or higher classifications. Central testing, usually administered on a state by state basis, was used to assess the large number of applications for clerical and administrative opportunities. But, since the late 1980s, recruitment has been gradually devolved to agencies, and changing technology and increasing complexity of work has led to falling demand for lower levels of clerical staff.

This has been reflected in a very significant and long-term drop in recruitment numbers at the lowest levels (APS 1-2) from 85 per cent of all recruits in 1981-82, to 53 per cent in 1991-92 and just 17 per cent in 2001-02. In association with this, the proportion of recruits aged less than 20 has also dropped-from 8 per cent in 1991-92 to only 2 per cent in 2001-02-though those aged 20 to 24 have increased.

While agencies have considerable flexibility in how they design their job structures, the typical structure groups jobs into eight classification levels up to the Senior Executive Service (SES)-from APS 1, the lowest, through to APS 6 then Executive Levels 1 and 2-and three levels within the SES. There are also training classifications-for graduates, cadets and administrative trainees and other trainees-where employees who complete the training programs are then allocated an appropriate classification in the APS 1 to APS 6 range.

Figure 8: Recruits by classification 1992–93 to 2001–02

Source: APSC 2002, State of the Service report, 2001-02.

The level at which most employees enter the Service has risen, and the base, in the sense of the typical base entry level, is now mostly at APS 3-4 levels, with these making up almost 42 per cent of all recruits. These are typically graduates, or people with considerable work experience, rather than school leavers. Agencies also recruit many suitably qualified people at higher levels more commonly than in the past. The numbers of lateral recruits at APS 5 and above have more than doubled in the last decade.

Excluding two large agencies, Centrelink and the Australian Taxation Office, the proportion of recruitment to middle management levels has increased from 18 per cent in 1996–97 to 34 per cent in 2001–02.

Centralised recruitment ceased in 2000 as a response to both the declining number of opportunities and the increased autonomy of agency heads. Each agency head is now responsible for all recruitment and selection in their agency, though some choose to manage their graduate recruitment programs cooperatively with other agencies. Within the provisions of the PS Act and other guidance, they may tailor recruitment and selection methods to meet their organisation’s unique operational needs.

As required by the merit principle, agencies must give the community reasonable access to jobs in the APS and around 99 per cent of all career employment opportunities are now open to the public. Around 45 per cent of all employees recruited during 2001–02 were working in the private sector prior to entering the APS.

All vacancies are advertised in a weekly newsletter of public service vacancies and staff movements, Public Service Gazette, accessible through the internet, and many middle and more senior level vacancies are also advertised in the press. All applicants, whether members of the public or already employed in the Service, may compete for the same job, and over the last four years it is estimated that between 20 to 40 per cent of vacancies have been won on merit by those from outside the APS.

Some temporary vacancies are not open to the public but provide opportunities for career development of APS staff to move within or between agencies.

Selection methods vary. The traditional method is a comparative assessment of applications, interview performances and comments from referees. While this is still used for most vacancies, agencies are increasingly adopting new methods such as use of assessment centres, online recruiting, psychometric testing and work-based testing- depending on suitability for particular jobs and the labour market.

Certain conditions are required, or can be imposed, on those who wish to join the APS. Australian citizenship is required although an agency head may decide in exceptional cases to forgo that requirement. Other conditions are more discretionary; and agencies may require conditions such as educational qualifications, health and security clearances, and a probationary period to assess work performance.

Selection of the Senior Executive Service and agency heads, the leaders of the Service, is discussed in the next Chapter.

A STATE GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

Advertising jobs electronically in the Tasmanian State Service The jobs.tas.gov.au employment portal has been successfully operating since its launch in May 2000. It was the first dedicated whole-of-state government niche employment and recruitment site in Australia. All State government agencies use the jobs site for all permanent or fixed-term vacancies of, or more than, 6 months duration, and for fixedterm employment registers. In the three years since it was launched, the site has advertised approximately 5600 jobs, averaging 54 jobs per week with approximately 100 jobs on the site at any one time. The site provides a simple interface for all State Service agencies to enter and edit vacancies, staff movements and selection information, and the State Service Commissioner can monitor vacancy adverts in relation to redeployment, workplace diversity, and compliance with Commissioner's Directions. The jobs.tas.gov.au site automatically compiles vacancies for electronic delivery to the printer of the Tasmanian Government Gazette, and to the advertising contractor to place vacancy notices in the print media, journals and external websites. The site has averaged 553 000 requests each month and about 31 400 job kits are being downloaded each month. Job kits provide everything needed to apply for the advertised vacancy, including a statement of duties, application forms and agency information, and give user choice of downloading via email, fax or mail. A 2002 redevelopment of the site was funded by all agencies through a user-pays arrangement, and includes new features which allow members of the public to be informed via email when new vacancies are posted; provides a specialist marketing area for agency and whole-of-government use; highlights the availability of, and procedure for using fixed-term employment registers; and includes staff movements and direct selection notices.

Categories of employee

Career public servants, referred to in the PS Act as 'ongoing employees', make up the large majority of APS staff. Also employed under the PS Act is a second category of public servant, called 'non-ongoing' staff, who currently make up 9.2 per cent of APS staff, though proportions vary widely from agency to agency reflecting agency functions.

Non-ongoing staff may be employed for:

• a specified term-which cannot exceed three years, in response to a temporary increase in workload, a need for specialised skills, the absence of an ongoing employee, or pending ongoing filling of a vacancy
• a specified task-where the duration of the task can be estimated and the services of the employee will no longer be required after the completion of the task, or
• duties that are irregular or intermittent.

These PS Act staff-ongoing and non-ongoing employees-are frequently supplemented by staff supplied by job placement companies who are supplied under contracts between their company and the agency. Staff can also be employed under other legislation on a short-term or sessional basis where the work of an agency requires it. The Australian Electoral Commission, for example, employs staff for short periods to help conduct federal elections under the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

Agencies use staff from job placement companies for the following reasons:

• greater flexibility
• obtaining specialist skills not available in the agency
• quick coverage of unpredicted absences
• preference by some specialists not to be engaged as non-ongoing employees
• ease of administration, including easier termination, should work be finished ahead of schedule, or for poor performance.

Most are employed in clerical, technical or administrative support work in the APS 1 to APS 4 classifications. There are no centrally available records of the numbers of these employees.

Agencies also enter into arrangements with independent contractors, including consultants, ranging from individuals to large companies. Because a number of functions traditionally performed within the APS, such as information technology and corporate management, have been contracted out, contractors and consultants are widely used in these areas and for particular projects requiring specialist skills.

Despite the flexibilities these staff accord agencies, there is no evidence so far of a major shift away from use of career staff and non-ongoing staff in the APS. All staff-whether employed under the Public Service Act or through other means-are expected to understand and uphold the Values and the code of conduct in relation to how they work and deliver services to the public.

Workplace diversity

Opening the APS to a wide range of people and skills brings to the workplace different perspectives that can add to the innovation, creativity and overall productivity of agencies, and result in greater capability and greater affinity with the public. In Australia, workplace diversity is about the Service making the best use of the talents of its employees, and recognising and valuing the knowledge, skills, backgrounds and perspectives that people bring to their work because of their experiences, age, gender, ethnicity, social background or other factors.

The APS Values require agencies to provide 'a workplace that is free from discrimination and recognises and utilises the diversity of the Australian community it serves' and one that 'promotes equity in employment'. Each agency is required to develop a workplace diversity program that includes measures to prevent all forms of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, consistent with federal law.

In particular, each agency must take action in relation to those groups that have been disadvantaged in Australian society and establish measures to eliminate employmentrelated disadvantage on the basis of:

• being an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• gender
• race or ethnicity, or
• physical or mental disability.

The effectiveness of some aspects of these workplace diversity programs can be assessed by monitoring and evaluating demographic trends in the employment of these four groups in the APS. In 2002, the APS-wide database showed, for example, that as the number of women in the Service has increased-to the current 52 per cent of all ongoing staff-so has their representation at more senior levels, though this remains well below 50 per cent. Women continue to outnumber men in graduate entry programs and now comprise 37 per cent of those at EL 1-2 levels and 28 per cent of the SES.

The figure below shows the change in the number of women at different classification levels between 1993 and 2002. The numbers have been weighted to eliminate the effects of changes in the overall size of the Service.

Figure 9: Change in number of women at selected levels, weighted and indexed, 1993 to 2002.

Source: APSC 2002, Statistical bulletin 2001-02.

According to the 2001 Census, round 410 000, or 2.2 per cent, of Australia's population are Indigenous Australians. Indigenous employment in the APS is currently double that in the workforce in general-2.4 per cent compared to 1.2 per cent. Even though Indigenous representation in the APS has increased in almost all classification levels in the past 10 years, their total representation has not increased since 1998. There is some growth in representation at more senior levels, but career paths are limited at lower levels and retention rates are low.

As a result, the average length of service remains well below that for non-Indigenous employees. Representation is concentrated among agencies with responsibility for Indigenous-specific programs and there is limited mobility of Indigenous employees to other agencies. The reduction in jobs at the lower classification levels also poses a risk for the future, as this is where the Service has traditionally recruited Indigenous people.

As one of its strategic priorities for 2002-03 the APS Commission is undertaking work to assess obstacles to Indigenous recruitment and retention, develop revised strategies and a good practice guide, and implement on a trial basis APS-wide collaborative and agency-based initiatives.

Since the early 1990s there has been a consistent decline in the APS of employment of people with a disability, and it is now a much smaller proportion than in equivalent occupations outside the APS (3.6 per cent compared to 9.7 per cent). The APS Commission has begun further analysis and is seeking alternative recruitment strategies and career pathways in partnership with external agencies to turn around the current trend.

The proportion of employees currently identifying themselves as from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) is 9.6 per cent, which, again, is lower than in equivalent occupations outside the APS (12.8 per cent).

The figure below shows the change in the number of these four groups of disadvantaged employees between 1993 and 2002. Again, the numbers have been weighted to eliminate the effects of changes in the overall size of the Service.

Figure 10: Change in population, weighted and indexed for four groups of employee, 1993 to 2002.

Source: APSC 2002, Statistical bulletin 2001-02.

Reporting of diversity data is voluntary for APS employees, and as a result, there is likely to be some under-reporting. The APS Commission is working with agencies to develop a framework that will enable them to better evaluate the effectiveness of their workplace diversity programs and to improve their collection and use of diversity data, such as by setting up online facilities that employees can update regularly.

Since the mid-1970s the public service has introduced flexible working arrangements that have helped employees manage the balance between personal, family and work commitments. Paid maternity leave was introduced in 1973, flexible working hours and part-time work have been available since the mid-70s, and most agencies now offer flexible leave arrangements which can be used for dependent care or school holidays, according to the needs of their employees.

A STATE GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

Wur-cum barra: Creating employment opportunities for Indigenous people in the Victorian public sector Wur-cum barra, meaning 'to work', is a whole-of-government state initiative, developed through broad consultation, to create employment opportunities in the Victorian public sector for Indigenous people. With a population in the state of Victoria of just over 4 600 000, just over 14 500 of those aged 15 to 64 living in Victoria identified themselves as Indigenous Australians in the 2001 Census. Of these, 18 per cent were unemployed compared to 6.8 per cent of the workforce as a whole. As at June 2001, the Victorian public sector employed 242 Indigenous Australians. The goal of Wur-cum barra is to employ at least 230 new Indigenous staff in the public sector by July 2005-almost doubling the current numbers-and so increase opportunities for Indigenous Victorians and the diversity and responsiveness of the public sector. To achieve this, individual Indigenous employment targets have been set for every agency, each of which must establish an 'Indigenous Employment Plan' and contribute to whole-of-government performance indicators through: developing pathways and practices to build the capacity of Indigenous people to seek careers in the public sector designing appropriate induction, work support and career development programs that build the professional skill base of Indigenous staff changing the workplace culture to improve cross-cultural awareness, and increasing the number of services provided through Indigenous community organisations rather than through public sector organisations. Government-wide activities to support this strategy include a network for Indigenous public servants, upgrading the Indigenous Graduate Recruitment Scheme, a best practice strategy 'toolkit', and improved data collection and monitoring of performance indicators.

 

A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

AQIS-Working with Indigenous communities in Northern Australia The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), part of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-Australia, is breaking new ground in its collaborative work with remote Indigenous Australian communities across northern Australia. AQIS has had a long-term policy of employing Indigenous quarantine staff in its strategically important quarantine regions of northern Australia and employs Indigenous quarantine officers on all of its 14 island locations in the Torres Strait and on the northern tip of Cape York in Queensland. Community involvement has translated to a high level of quarantine awareness and support in the Torres Strait, minimising incursions of exotic pests into Australia through this potential transit route. Building on this success, AQIS has turned its attention more recently to strengthening links and collaboration with Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. A full-time liaison officer has been employed in Darwin and is training Aboriginal rangers in quarantine techniques. Aboriginal ranger groups have been keen to undertake this training and to carry out quarantine surveillance work on behalf of AQIS, and the support of these community-based groups has greatly increased the agency's survey capacity in northern Australia. In the Northern Territory and Western Australia much of this land is Aboriginal-owned. Aboriginal rangers have an intimate knowledge of their land and this makes them well placed to identify exotic pests and diseases that may enter Australia from countries to the north. In the event of an incursion, any eradication program would directly affect Aboriginal communities and their support would be vital to its success. This example illustrates the involvement of stakeholders by AQIS in ways appropriate to their particular backgrounds and cultures, to protect Australia's relationship with its land.

Workforce planning

A systematic approach to workforce planning continues to be a challenge for many APS agencies. Few can successfully identify current and future skill needs, develop and retain the required skills and knowledge to deliver on their outcomes, and develop strategies to meet those needs over time. Many agencies have found it necessary to make significant investments in upgrading their human resource (HR) systems in order to access reliable staffing data to undertake demand and demographic analysis.

Two recent reports provide guidance for improved workplace planning initiatives-a 2002 Australian National Audit Office report, Managing people for business outcomes, and a Management Advisory Committee (MAC) report, Organisational renewal, published in 2003.

The Audit Office report examines people management practices across 14 agencies and concludes that there is considerable room for improvement in how people management planning is integrated into business planning.

The report outlines suggested future action for agencies and set out some better practice principles. It concludes that line and HR staff should be working more closely together to identify business critical priorities, and to adopt creative approaches that are well designed, implemented and evaluated. This includes using information from HR systems to inform decision-making and to assess performance, and drawing on relevant better practice principles.

The MAC report focuses on APS-wide workforce planning and examines the challenges of attracting and retaining staff in an environment in which the APS staffing profile constitutes a growing proportion of older workers, staff reaching retirement age and a declining proportion of staff under 25 years of age.

The study identifies strategies relating to the ageing of the APS and the wider Australian workforce and analyses changes in career and work expectations. It is hoped this will assist agencies to develop their own strategies to retain older workers, to better manage the risk of loss of corporate knowledge and skills, and to recruit and retain more young people and graduates in the APS.

The Australian Public Service Commission also promotes workforce planning in its HR forums and training programs as an important element in enabling agencies to meet current and future business objectives and build individual and organisational capability. Amongst its recent publications is Managing succession within the APS, published in 2003.

Performance management

In recent years APS agencies have increasingly emphasised developing and implementing performance management systems.

The public sector reforms of the 1990s focused on effectiveness and achieving organisational objectives. The legislative framework that followed provides agency heads with opportunities to pursue results and to tailor their approaches to managing performance to best suit the needs of their own organisations. It also requires each agency to link improvements in pay and employment conditions to productivity and to report annually to government on achievement of outputs and expenditure against Program Budgeting Statements under an outcomes and outputs framework discussed more fully in Chapter 7.

In the same vein, the APS Values require agencies to focus on achieving results and managing performance, aiming to place capability and effective performance at the centre of APS management.

The legislative framework does not set out how performance management is to be implemented in individual agencies but each agency is now expected to:

• have the organisational capacity, flexibility and responsiveness necessary to achieve the outcomes expected
• have a culture of achievement, planning time and priorities to deliver on intended results
• report on the effectiveness of the agency's outputs
• demonstrate that resource priorities match agreed outcomes
• have a fair and open performance management system that covers all APS employees, guides salary movement, is linked to organisational and business goals and the maintenance of the Values, and provides each employee with a clear statement of performance expectations and an opportunity to comment on those expectations.

Agency heads are not excluded from performance assessment. The federal government introduced performance assessment for departmental Secretaries and executive agency heads in 1999 and this is discussed in the next Chapter.

A strategic focus

A key report by the Management Advisory Committee in 2001—Performance management in the APS: A strategic framework—saw performance management as a tool to assist agencies improve organisational capability, meet broad organisational objectives and deliver high quality policy advice and program administration. Recognising the diversity of government agencies, and the need to tailor approaches to the specific business requirements of each agency, the report identifies the elements of good practice in performance management systems in the APS as operating to achieve:

• alignment—within a values–based framework that recognises the organisation’s culture and history, and the maturity of its systems
• credibility—it applies across the organisation and is seen as fair, transparent and rigorous
• integration—it integrates organisational objectives with the performance of teams and individuals.

Current challenges are seen to be improving the credibility of the process, greater staff involvement, giving better feedback, improving reward and recognition strategies, and managing underperformance.

Many agencies are now focusing on improving their performance management to integrate it with their business and workforce planning by:

• clarifying performance objectives and linking individual and business plans with organisational plans
• periodic performance appraisal of individual and team performance against achievements and behaviours linked to the Values
• recognising and rewarding performance
• counselling and effectively managing poor performance
• learning and development to build individual and organisational capability
• evaluating the contribution of individual and organisational performance.

Managing underperformance

The other side of performance management is managing underperformance. While the procedures for handling underperformance will vary depending on the culture and circumstances of each agency, it is important that they:

• are an integral part of a culture of active performance management
• have regard to procedural fairness
• balance the needs of the agency and the employee
• are streamlined and efficient
• are consistent with relevant legislation, including that relating to workplace relations, discrimination, record keeping and privacy.

Agencies may, if necessary, terminate employees' employment, reduce their classification, or assign them to other duties.

Remuneration, rewards and performance pay

There is no single approach to remuneration and rewards in the APS. Agencies have considerable scope to develop approaches to suit their culture and business needs within a government policy framework that establishes the boundaries of action. This is a direct consequence of the 1996 Workplace Relations Act which did away with a centralised system for managing employment conditions in the workforce and instituted one that devolved to individual organisations-referred to as 'enterprises' in the legislation-in all sectors, responsibility for negotiating, within limits, agreements setting employment conditions and pay arrangements within their organisations. The results of these negotiations are called enterprise agreements or, occasionally, workforce agreements.

Public servants and contractors are able to choose whether they wish to join public service unions or employer associations and may not be discriminated against because of this choice. The devolved environment created by the 1996 WR Act has substantially changed the role of public sector unions.

Since 1996 there have been no formal government-public sector union consultative mechanisms, although government representatives do on occasion meet with representatives of public sector unions to discuss various issues. This reflects the replacement of the single Service-wide union-negotiated employment agreement of the early 1990s with a workplace relations environment in which each agency is separately responsible for determining its terms and conditions of employment.

Agency heads are required to ensure consultative arrangements encompass all employees, whether they are union members or not.

These negotiated enterprise agreements-Certified Agreements (CAs) or Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs)-have legal force and the processes and arrangements included in them must be consistently followed. Certified Agreements in the APS are collectively negotiated and, at this stage, tend to cover most staff between APS 1 and EL 1. AWAs are individually negotiated between each employee and their agency, can take into account the particular circumstances of each individual and, to date, have tended to be used primarily for some middle managers and the SES.

Agencies are now recognising that different organisational cultures require different approaches and there is growing variation in the approaches taken to conditions of employment to suit their particular needs.

Since 1997 agencies have been required to link improvements in pay and conditions to improvements in organisational productivity, and to fund any increases from within agency budgets without increasing prices or reducing the quality of services they deliver.

Concern that differences in pay and conditions between agencies would reduce the effectiveness and cohesion of the APS has not, as yet, eventuated to the extent which some predicted. In part, this is due both to the government's policy framework, and the need for agencies to meet the cost of any pay increases from their productivity improvements, resulting in more modest rises and variations than originally anticipated. Most of the variations appear to reflect genuine labour market requirements (to pay particular experts, or to reward top performers, for example) and reflect exactly the intent of the flexibility provided. Not surprisingly, where agencies are employing people within the same labour market, remuneration does not vary widely.

While agencies may choose the level of detail in their employment agreements, they generally include those elements of their performance management system that set out how assessments of individual employee performance are linked to improvements to pay and conditions.

All APS agencies link remuneration to individual performance in one way or another. The two most common approaches to performance-based remuneration are:

• performance-linked advancement-a base salary increase for satisfactory or higher performance, usually in terms of either incremental progression through pay points or through a percentage increase and/or
• performance-linked bonus-usually a one-off bonus payment in recognition of higher than satisfactory performance.

Most remuneration schemes now link salary, rewards or bonuses, skill development and the work environment in their agency agreements. Agencies may give non-monetary rewards to individual employees in recognition of high achievement, such as formal awards, certificates or plaques, gift certificates, development opportunities, or conference attendance. Some agencies have adopted team-based reward systems, although not all have been successful.

Agencies are required to report annually to Parliament on the level of performance payments to employees without infringing on the privacy and confidentiality of individuals.

Termination of employment

The Workplace Relations Act 1996 establishes the framework for all sectors, private, voluntary and public, regarding an employer's power to hire and fire staff in Australia. The APS is subject to the same termination of employment provisions as the rest of the community under the WR Act. The Public Service Act operates within that framework to ensure that public service practices broadly mirror those in other sectors.

An APS employee, like employees in other sectors, may apply to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission for review of their termination on the basis that it was harsh, unjust, unreasonable or unlawful under the provisions of the WR Act. Remedies for unfair termination include reinstatement or compensation in lieu of reinstatement.

In 2001-02 agency heads terminated the employment of 2818 employees. Of these, almost three quarters were because the employee was redundant-deemed to be excess to the requirements of the agency-and retrenched.

Other grounds for termination include: failure to meet a condition imposed at engagement (such as probation, citizenship, formal qualifications, security or character clearance, health clearance); unsatisfactory performance of duties; and a breach of the code of conduct.

In relation to termination for breaches of the code of conduct, agencies are required to have due regard to procedural fairness and are to comply with a set of basic procedural requirements established by the Public Service Commissioner.

Redundancy and retrenchment

As noted above, redundancy occurs when an agency head concludes that the agency has staff who are excess to its functions or structure. Redundancies are not used to deal with the performance of individuals, which is dealt with through performance management or disciplinary provisions.

The PS Act does not specify the basis on which employees should be formally declared excess or how to manage excess employees. Redundancy decisions are made by each agency according to its needs and the arrangements for redundancies are included in their enterprise agreements.

Excess APS employees are typically given two options:

• acceptance of voluntary retrenchment with a redundancy payment calculated on the basis of the employee's length of service, or
• retention in employment for seven or 13 months, depending again on an employee's length of service, during which time the employee seeks to be redeployed elsewherein the APS.

The level of redundancy benefit is broadly comparable to that applying in most state and territory public sectors and a number of private sector companies, but exceeds the current community standard minimum, now being reviewed.

The current redundancy arrangements proved very effective in facilitating the major downsizing and restructuring that took place in the APS during the 1990s, with most redundancies over this period being voluntary and not involving any significant industrial disruption.

Redundancy arrangements for the Senior Executive Service are dealt with somewhat differently and are outlined in the next Chapter.

Review of action

Any APS employee, excluding those in the SES, is entitled to a review of an action (including a failure to act) that relates to their employment, except when that action involves the termination of their employment-in which case, as already noted, they may take their case to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Reviews of action are primarily the responsibility of agency heads. Where an employee is dissatisfied with the outcome of the agency head's review they may apply for a secondary review by the Merit Protection Commissioner (an independent statutory officer located within the office of the Public Service Commissioner), who can make recommendations to the agency head.

Whistleblowing

Legislative protection for APS whistleblowers introduced in 1998 recognised that whistleblowing can be a valuable safeguard in protecting the public interest against corruption, fraudulent behaviour or wasteful practices. The 1999 Public Service Act made similar provision and prohibited victimisation or discrimination against APS employees who report breaches of the code of conduct.

Agency heads are now required to establish procedures, having due regard for procedural fairness, for inquiring into whistleblower reports. In most cases, reports are made to the head of the relevant agency who must arrange for an investigation, unless they consider the report to be frivolous or vexatious.

A report can be made directly to the Public Service Commissioner or the Merit Protection Commissioner when a report to an agency head might be inappropriate-if, for example, the agency head, or an employee they worked closely with, were implicated-or if an employee is not satisfied with the outcome of an inquiry conducted by their agency.

During 2001-02 the Commissioners received 14 reports, of which only three met the criteria for investigation. One related to administrative decision-making rather than the conduct of a specific employee, and the other two, both under investigation, related to a matter of privacy and alleged interference in tendering.

Further information:

Further statistical information is available from the APSC web site, in particular, three annual documents: APS statistical bulletin, the Workplace diversity report and the State of the Service report.

The two Management Advisory Committee reports, APS: A strategic framework (MAC report 1), and (MAC report 3), are on the same site at http://www.apsc.gov.au/mac

ANAO's 2002 report, , is on its web site at http://www.anao.gov.au

Managing succession within the APS, APSC 2003, http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications03/managingsuccession.htm

The Public Service Act 1999 and all other Commonwealth enactments may be accessed on-line at http://scaleplus.law.gov.au

The Merit Protection Commissioner's web site is at http://www.apsc.gov.au/merit

Information on workplace relations is on a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations web site at http://www.workplace.gov.au/ and the legislation is at http://www.workplace.gov.au/legislation

APS Values http://www.apsc.gov.au/values

The Tasmanian job site is at http://jobs.tas.gov.au

• Australian Public Service Commission • A-Z index • Privacy, legal & copyright • Contact us This page can be found at www.apsc.gov.au/about/exppsreform6.htm