Public Service Gazette requirements

Overview

The Public Service (PS) Gazette contains vacancy and employment decision notices that are required to be published under sections 25, 40, 40A and 41 of the Australian Public Service Commissioner's Directions 2022 (the Directions).

As well as Australian Public Service (APS) vacancies, the Australian Parliamentary Service and other Commonwealth agencies may also publish notices in the PS Gazette.

The PS Gazette is published in electronic form on the APSjobs website.

Notification of vacancies

Section 25 of the Directions sets out the requirement for vacancies to be notified (advertised) in the PS Gazette where the recruitment process might result in an engagement or promotion.

Advertising vacancies in the PS Gazette supports providing eligible members of the community a reasonable opportunity to apply for the APS vacancy, consistent with the merit principle, outlined in section 10A(2) of the PS Act.

However not all vacancies that may result in an engagement need to be notified in the PS Gazette. Where a vacancy will be filled by a non-ongoing employee for a period of less than 12 months, section 27 of the Directions provides that the vacancy does not need to be notified.

Closing date for vacancies

A vacancy published in the PS Gazette must have a closing date of at least 7 calendar days after the notification, unless an Agency Head is satisfied there are special circumstances and approves a shorter period. When considering a shorter period, agencies should consider whether shortening the period would be consistent with merit, including that eligible members of the community are given a reasonable opportunity to apply for the vacancies.

Notification to the Commissioner

The Directions provides that the Australian Public Service Commissioner (the Commissioner) may, by notice in writing, require an Agency Head to obtain the approval of the Commissioner before notifying a specified vacancy, or a specified class of vacancies, in the PS Gazette. Where such a notice is made, Agency Heads will be notified.

Multiple agency notification

The Directions also requires that an agency participating in a multiple agency selection process must ensure as far as practicable that a specified vacancy is brought to the notice of the community in a way that gives eligible members of the community a reasonable opportunity to apply for it.

When including a multiple agency notification in the PS Gazette, each agency can notify their own individual vacancy or, alternatively, they can rely on a single notice that lists all agencies involved. Each agency might also promote the joint opportunity on their individual websites. The APSjobs website allows an agency to notify a vacancy as 'various agencies'. Participating agencies can be listed within the notice.

External advertising

An agency can supplement a PS Gazette notice with external advertising in order to attract more candidates or to target candidates with particular skills or formal qualifications, for example, advertising the role on the agency's website, on other websites or in other media. External advertising must comply with the Department of Finance’s advertising guidelines.

When advertising on other platforms, agencies are encouraged to undertake all advertising concurrently to avoid confusion. There may be instances where this is not suitable or possible. Where external advertising is not undertaken concurrently with the PS Gazette notification:

• section 25(7) of the Directions requires that external advertising must take place within 4 weeks before or after the PS Gazette notification; and
• all notices must include the same closing date as the day specified in the Gazette notification. This is regardless of when the advertisement or notice was published.

An agency cannot use any other form of advertising outside of this period without placing a new notification in the PS Gazette.

Notification of employment decisions

Section 40 of the Directions sets out the employment decisions which must be notified in the PS Gazette. They include the:

• promotion of an ongoing employee
• engagement of an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee as an ongoing APS employee at a higher classification than the person's current classification as a Parliamentary Service employee
• engagement or promotion of a person made in accordance with an Independent Selection Advisory Committee recommendation
• termination of the employment of an ongoing employee on the grounds of a breach of the APS Code of Conduct mentioned in 29(3)(g) of the Public Service Act 1999.

The employment decision must be notified in the PS Gazette within 3 months after the decision is made, unless the Commissioner agrees to a different arrangement prior to the conclusion of the 3 month period.

If the employment decision is made on the basis that the person is required to satisfy an eligibility requirement (such as a security or character clearance), the 3 month period for gazettal commences at the time the eligibility requirement is met.

The employee’s name must be included in the PS Gazette notification except where:

1. an Agency Head decides that a person's name should not be included because of the person’s work-related or personal circumstances This could include, but is not limited to, a candidate experiencing domestic and family violence or for reasons of privacy around Affirmative measures recruitment; or
2. where employment is terminated under section 29(3) of the PS Act on the grounds of breach of the APS Code of Conduct, the Agency Head decides that including the person’s name is not necessary to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the APS.

If the notification relates to a promotion that is subject to review and the Merit Protection Commissioner requests the Agency Head to provide the employee’s name, the Agency Head must advise the Merit Protection Commissioner of the name of the employee as soon as practicable after the request is received.

In accordance with subsection 40(6) of the Directions, where a notification does not include the name, the Agency Head must advise the Commissioner of the employee’s name as soon as practicable after the notification is published.

This information can be provided by submitting the Notification of Name Withheld form via email to EmploymentPolicy@apsc.gov.au.

Late notification in Public Service Gazette

Section 40A of the Directions sets out provisions where a decision is not notified in accordance with section 40 by an Agency Head because of an error or omission. The Agency Head must as soon as practicable after identifying the error or omission:

• notify the decision in the Gazette; and
• if the notification relates to a Group A decision that is subject to review notify all applicants eligible for review of their review rights.

A group A decision is a decision to:

• promote an ongoing APS employee; or
• engage an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee as an ongoing APS employee at a classification that is higher than the employee’s Parliamentary Service classification.

A group A decision is reviewable where:

• the role is classified as an APS2-6 and
• the engagement or promotion wasn’t a result of an Independent Selection Advisory Committee recommendation, and
• MPC has not previously reviewed the selection process and found it to be merit-based or not merit-based but that the outcome would not have been materially different had the selection process met the requirements.

Cancellation of decision

Where an employment decision is cancelled after it has appeared in the PS Gazette in accordance with section 41 of the Directions, the cancellation decision must then be notified in the PS Gazette within 3 months of the cancellation decision being made.

Further information

HR practitioners seeking more information on Public Service Gazette requirements can contact the Employment Policy team via employmentpolicy@apsc.gov.au or call the advice line on (02) 6202 3857.