Integrity is most visible when decisions are reviewed or challenged, but it is most effective when built into everyday HR processes. Integrity must be part of the foundation of the Australian Public Service (APS), and HR professionals play a central role in ensuring it is reflected consistently in how decisions are made.
There are five key considerations to help ensure decisions are fair, transparent and aligned with the APS Values and Code of Conduct:
- Designing integrity into HR processes
- Procedural fairness in practice
- Enabling speak-up and psychological safety
- From policy to practice
- Transparency and accountability in automated decision making
Designing integrity into HR processes
Integrity by design focuses on how HR processes are structured – supporting consistent, defensible decision-making without relying on individual judgement alone.
In practice, this includes:
- Clear, repeatable processes that reduce ambiguity and support consistent outcomes
- Defined roles and delegations, aligned with the APS Commissioner’s Directions 2022
- Proportionate documentation, enabling transparency and review
- Built-in escalation pathways for complex or sensitive matters.
These elements help ensure decisions are traceable, consistent and capable of withstanding scrutiny. This approach aligns with broader integrity settings, including the Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Control Framework, which emphasises prevention through strong systems and controls.
As highlighted in AHRI insights, organisations are most effective when ethical decision-making is embedded into everyday processes and interactions, rather than treated as a standalone compliance activity.
Procedural fairness in practice
Procedural fairness as standard practice is a key mechanism through which integrity is applied in decision-making.
This means ensuring individuals are:
- Informed of relevant information
- Given a genuine opportunity to respond
- Considered impartially and without bias
- Provided with clear reasons for decisions.
Consistently applying these principles supports better decisions and stronger confidence in HR processes.
Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) guidance, including the Guide on Merit in the APS, reinforces the importance of fair, transparent and evidence-based decision-making across people management activities.
Enabling speak‑up and psychological safety
A strong speak‑up culture where employees feel safe to raise concerns enables organisations to:
- Identify issues early
- Test whether processes are working as intended
- Strengthen accountability and continuous improvement.
Jo Talbot, FCPHR, First Assistant Commissioner, Workplace Reform and Diversity, APSC, highlights in her AHRI article on the APS approach to psychological safety, employees must feel able to raise concerns, challenge decisions and admit mistakes without fear of retribution.
HR professionals support this by:
- Ensuring clear and accessible pathways to raise concerns
- Promoting consistent and appropriate responses
- Reinforcing that speaking up is expected and supported
- Embedding respectful workplace behaviours.
Psychological safety is shaped by what people experience day-to-day. AHRI research highlights that psychological safety is influenced by how concerns are received, how decisions are explained, and how individuals are treated in practice. Rather than removing accountability, this enables concerns to be raised and managed fairly and consistently – it does not remove accountability.
From policy to practice
Integrity in HR is strongest where there is alignment between:
- APS frameworks and guidance
- Agency processes and systems
- Day-to-day decision-making practices
HR professionals play a key role in bridging this gap – ensuring policy intent is reflected in practice, and that systems remain fit-for-purpose, understood and consistently applied.
Transparency and accountability in automated decision making
Earlier this year, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released its Automated decision-making and public reporting under the Freedom of Information Act report, which identified opportunities for Australian Government agencies to improve transparency about their use of automated decision-making (ADM).
Transparency is critical to maintaining public trust as ADM becomes more common across government. System opacity can make it difficult to explain how decisions are made, but proactively sharing information about when and how ADM is used can help build understanding of the role technology plays, while providing assurance on appropriate governance and human oversight.
Public examples of failures in the oversight of ADM, such as those highlighted by the Robodebt Royal Commission, have reinforced the need for transparency and accountability.
Integrity in action
Embedding integrity by design ensures HR decisions are compliant, consistent, transparent and trusted.
Across the APS, HR professionals support this by:
- Designing processes that embed fairness and accountability
- Applying procedural fairness as standard practice
- Supporting environments where concerns can be raised early
Together, these elements strengthen confidence in HR decisions and contribute to maintaining public trust in the APS.