Ongoing employment – Recruitment and related issues

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Introduction

Under the Public Service Act 1999 (the Act)¹, responsibility for employment decisions affecting the employees in an agency has generally been devolved to the relevant Agency Head. These decisions must comply with the requirements set out in the Act and the various instruments issued under that Act, including the Public Service Regulations 1999 (the Regulations), the Public Service Commissioner's Directions 1999 (the Directions) and the Public Service Classification Rules 2000 (the Classification Rules).

This booklet provides general advice on non-SES, ongoing recruitment and selection issues. It should be read in conjunction with other publications in this series, namely:

Non-ongoing Employment 1—Specified term and task employment: recruitment and related issues (publication pending)
Non-ongoing Employment 2—Irregular or intermittent employment: recruitment and related issues (publication pending)
Training Classifications—Graduate and other trainees: recruitment and related issues
Conditions of Engagement (publication pending)
Probation
Delegations
Termination of Employment.

Senior Executive Service

The special arrangements applying to SES recruitment and selection are discussed in the separate booklet: The Senior Executive Service (SES).

Outline

The structure of this booklet is as follows:

Chapter 1 covers the legislative framework of ongoing employment
Chapter 2 outlines the general principles of ongoing employment and describes the recruitment and selection process
Chapter 3 answers frequently asked and other questions on related issues.

As it is anticipated that readers will consult the relevant section dealing with specific situations rather than reading the booklet cover-to-cover, some of the material is deliberately repeated.

The booklet is reproduced in electronic form on the Commission's website. Readers of the electronic version can click on links at various points in the text and will be taken to related publications.

Further advice

Agencies can access the latest information through the Commission's website. For further information on recruitment or related issues you may contact the Commission's Employment Policy Adviceline by telephone (02 6202 3859) or by email (employmentadvice@apsc.gov.au). It may be appropriate for more complex or sensitive queries to be dealt with in writing.

Legal advice and legal proceedings relating to the Act

The Act is interpreted and applied by all APS agencies. It is therefore important that the Commission be kept fully informed of current legal thinking on the interpretation of the Act so that this can inform the advice provided by the Commission to agencies. Agencies are therefore requested to liaise with the Commission when obtaining advice and forward copies of any legal advice that they obtain regarding the Act framework to the Commission, in line with Clause 10 of the Legal Services Directions. These should be forwarded to:

Legal Services Unit
Australian Public Service Commission
16 Furzer Street
PHILLIP ACT 2606

Agencies are also asked to ensure that the Commission is notified of any court or Australian Industrial Relations Commission proceedings that raise questions of interpretation of the Act framework. The initial point of contact for such cases is the Group Manager of the Policy Group (02 6202 3833 ).

1. All references to the Act are to the Public Service Act 1999, unless specified otherwise.