Circular No 2004/7: SES selection arrangements – Additional selection criteria

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At a meeting of the Leadership and Learning Advisory Committee (LLAC), which is chaired by the Public Service Commissioner and includes a number of portfolio Secretaries as members, it was agreed agencies should have a degree of flexibility in adding additional selection criteria to be used in assessing applicants for Senior Executive Service (SES) employment opportunities.

2. The five core SES selection criteria, based on the key elements of the Senior Executive Leadership Capability Framework (SELCF), have now been in place for over five years. The LLAC agreed that the SELCF (and the core SES selection criteria derived from the five key elements of the SELCF) remains relevant, with additional detail and guidance provided by the recently introduced Integrated Leadership System.

3. Before adding an additional selection criterion, the arrangement in place since the introduction of the current core SES selection criteria in 1999 has been that agencies must seek the Public Service Commissioner's prior agreement. In recognition that agencies have generally utilised this capacity to add additional criteria appropriately and sparingly, it was agreed by the LLAC that agencies could henceforth add one additional selection criterion without seeking the Commissioner's agreement, provided that the additional selection criterion is relevant and not expressed as being mandatory. The additional criterion should highlight some skill or capacity not readily identified within the core selection criteria, which it would be desirable for applicants to possess, or to be able to acquire quickly if selected. The extra criterion can therefore serve to assist a selection committee in making fine judgements between the relative claims of suitable applicants.

4. If an agency wishes to add more than one criterion, or if it is proposed to express an extra criterion in terms of it being 'essential' that applicants satisfy the criterion, then agencies must still seek the Commissioner's agreement before proceeding. It should be noted that Agency Heads retain the capacity to determine mandatory qualifications applying to a set of duties, including at SES level. Such qualifications are not selection criteria as such, as applicants must possess them to be eligible for further consideration for engagement or promotion.

5. For further information on the matters raised in this circular, you may contact the APS Commission's Employment Policy Adviceline—by phone on (02) 6202 3859, or e mail employmentadvice@apsc.gov.au.

David Bohn
Group Manager
Policy Group
6 December 2004