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Last updated: June 2008
Frequently asked questions
What does a ‘career-based’ service mean?
Section 10(1)(n) of the Public Service Act 1999 states that ‘the APS is a career-based service to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of Australia’s democratic system of government’.
Chapter 2 of the Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 1999 provide further information and clarification about the APS Values. In particular, clause 2.15(1)c and d(i)(ii) states that:
‘In upholding and promoting the Australian Public Service (APS) Value mentioned in paragraph 10(1)(n) of the Act, an Agency Head must:
- encourage a feeling of common membership of a significant institution; and
- put in place measures to ensure that:
- the Agency is staffed on a basis that sustains core knowledge, expertise, and standards of professionalism and behaviour; and
- legislative and Agency requirements in relation to the use of the different categories of APS employment are upheld’.
REFERENCES:
Extract from Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 1999 (Chapter 2)
