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Performance review : APS policy and employment services : Advice and support to Minister, Executive and agency heads : Employment services
Output 1.3: International assistance and organisations

Employment services

The Commission provides a range of employment services to APS employees and agencies to assist them to meet their legislative requirements.

Table 4: Performance Information: Output 1.2—Employment Services
Target	Result
Quantity
1. To provide Gazette services to enable agencies to satisfy legislative requirements to notify certain employment actions—50 gazettes produced per year.	Achieved. 50 Gazettes were produced on time.
2. Perform statutory responsibilities:
a) Number of SES engagements, promotions and terminations—estimate 240	Underestimated. 252 matters were resolved.
b) Services to support any machinery of government changes, approval of delegations, and case management of about 550 individual cases	Overestimated. 11 machinery of government cases, 3 consents to delegation of powers to outsiders and the Commissioner responded to 18 whistleblowing reports. Due to changes in the Commission’s output structure, the ‘individual cases’ are now incorporated within item 3 below (estimated number of fee-for-service employment-related services). This change in the output structure is now reflected in the Commission’s 2007-08 Portfolio Budget Statement.
3. Estimated number of fee-for-service employment-related services—617	Exceeded. 957 fee-for-service activities were conducted

Quality
1. Per cent of Gazette entries accurately published in accordance with legislative requirements—target 100%.	Achieved. 100% lodged in accordance with requirements. Agencies have also expressed satisfaction with the new online lodgement process.
2. a) 95% of agency SES employment recommendations able to be endorsed within one week of receipt of documents.	Exceeded. 100% of SES recommendations from agencies endorsed within one week of receipt.
b) 100% of machinery of government changes completed within legislative timeframes	Achieved. 100% of 11 machinery of government changes effected within legislative timeframes.
95% of approvals of delegations to outsiders completed within 5 working days	Not achieved. 66% of the 3 cases approved in 2006–07 completed within 5 working days, 1 case took longer to complete due to administrative considerations.
100% of requests for consultation on, or approval for, re-engagement completed within 5 working days	Not achieved. 87.5% of 8 cases approved in 2006–07 completed within 5 working days, 1 case took longer to complete due to the complexities of the case.
a high level of satisfaction of clients with the accuracy, quality and timeliness of individual cases.	Achieved. Day-to-day client feedback continues to indicate a high level of satisfaction with the services provided


Estimated price: $4.994 million	Actual: $6.430 million

Produce the Public Service Gazette

The Commission produces the Public Service Gazette (the Gazette/s) weekly to notify the public of all employment opportunities, recruitment outcomes and certain other APS employment decisions. In 2006–07, 50 Gazettes were produced with the number of notices lodged increasing by 21.13 per cent compared to the number lodged in 2005–06.

Table 5: Comparative number of notices lodged over last five financial years
Financial year	Total number of notices lodged	Percentage difference on previous year (%)
2002–03	39,100	-
2003–04	31,900	- 18.41%
2004–05	39,000	+ 22.26%
2005–06	47,918	+ 22.87%
2006–07	58,044	+ 21.13%

In July 2006, the Commission completed a small scale enhancement of the Gazette which improved the public search system, as well as the online lodgement process for agencies, as an interim measure until the Gazette could be comprehensively re-developed in line with decisions made by the Government’s Management Advisory Committee (MAC).

During the year, with the assistance of a reference group of agencies (comprising the Departments of Defence, Employment and Workplace Relations, Transport and Regional Services, the Australian Taxation Office, the Child Support Agency and the National Library of Australia) the Gazette was re-developed into an APS employment portal, consistent with MAC’s decisions in its report Managing and sustaining the APS workforce released in 2005.

The new system was delivered in June 2007 ready for pilot testing in July 2007. Branded as APSjobs, the new site was launched on 9 August 2007 by the Commissioner.

The APSjobs site is one component of a package of work in 2006–07 aimed at:

increasing the profile of the APS in the labour market
encouraging people to apply for jobs and build a career and the APS
attracting particular skill sets or groups to pursue APS careers
improving APS management of the recruitment process, in order to remain competitive in the labour market
retaining staff in the APS to build future workforce capability.

Related initiatives are reported in outputs 2.2—programme delivery and 3.2—promoting better practice.

The new site will provide an up-to-date image for the APS, making it more attractive to job seekers. It has several new features that make it easier to find out about the APS as an employer and apply for jobs. The new site includes:

interactive email alerts for job seekers so they can be notified of upcoming vacancies e.g. of a particular type or location
information about APS employment conditions and access to Cracking the code, a plain-English guide to getting a job in the APS
a further improved search system for job seekers and other users
the ability for APS agencies to advertise mobility opportunities and major recruitment campaigns in a new Branching out page
Ready now, a register of former APS employees for agencies to draw upon in their recruitment processes
further improved online lodgement processes for agencies.

With the development of APSjobs, the opportunity was taken to review the need for publication of a paper Gazette as the number of subscribers has decreased substantially in recent years. In June 2007, the Government decided to cease its production with effect from 8 August 2007. The last paper copy was published on 2 August 2007. Users of APSjobs may instead download a paper copy direct from the new site.

Further improvements are planned for APSjobs with scoping of phase 2 development commencing in June 2007.

Manage Commission responsibilities for SES engagements, promotions and terminations of employment

Agencies require the Commissioner’s agreement before a range of staffing actions affecting SES employees can proceed, particularly those relating to the promotion and engagement of SES employees and in cases where SES employees are offered an incentive to retire from the APS.

Table 6: Number of SES selection exercises endorsed and number of employment opportunities filled
SES selection exercises	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07
Number of selection exercises endorsed	189	251	226
Employment opportunities filled by promotion, engagement or movement at level	327	459	428

The Commissioner also has responsibility for approving the amount offered by agency heads as an incentive for SES employees, under section 37 of the Act, to retire within a specified period. In 2006–07, use of section 37 continued to be at a low level, similar to previous years, with 23 separations taking effect under this provision.

The Commission continued to deal efficiently with agency requests relating to SES staffing matters with the majority of requests being responded to within one working day of receipt.
Appendix I contains details of promotions, engagements and movements at levels to advertised SES employment opportunities, section 37 retirements by agency and SES separations by type during 2006–07.

Further information on the profile of the SES can be found in the State of the Service Report on the Commission’s website at: http://www.apsc.gov.au/stateoftheservice/

The Group Manager, Policy Group, fulfils the role of SES Adviser. The SES Adviser is available to all SES employees seeking advice on employment issues, including those SES employees offered the opportunity to retire under section 37.

Succession management in the APS

In 2006–07, the Commissioner gathered new and updated information from Secretaries on the professional skills and capacities of the SES Band 3 group which represents a major source of future APS agency heads. Information was also obtained relating to selected SES Band 2 employees in terms of their potential to move to the next level. The Commissioner uses this information to advise Secretaries and in particular the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, about succession management both in general terms and in relation to specific appointments.

The Commissioner will repeat this process for 2007–08.

Performance assessment for Secretaries

The Commissioner and the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet provided advice to the Prime Minister on the performance of Secretaries during 2006–07 as part of the annual performance assessment process. The Prime Minister considered this advice when determining performance bonuses for Secretaries for that period. The Commissioner also provided advice to relevant Ministers on the performance of agency heads in 2006–07. The Prime Minister subsequently endorsed the relevant Minister’s determination regarding performance bonuses for each agency head.

Administrative re-arrangement casework

The Commission handled 11 administrative re-arrangements in 2006–07, including a number arising from Uhrig assessments. Significant changes included:

the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) moving into the APS
establishment of the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity as separate APS statutory agencies
amalgamation of water resource functions in the renamed Department of the Environment and Water Resources involving the movement of various functions and staff from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The Commission executed the necessary determinations under section 72 of the Act, to give effect to these administrative rearrangements, to meet the timeframes set by the Government and by individual agencies.

Delegations to outsiders

Before an APS agency head can delegate any powers under the Act or the Public Service Classification Rules 2000, to a person not employed under the Act, an agency head must obtain the Commissioner’s written consent. In 2006–07, the Commissioner consented to requests relating to three individuals. Two of the requests were for staffing related powers and one request was for powers to investigate and determine potential sanctions for a suspected breach of the Code of Conduct. Each request was considered on its merits, including whether the individuals involved possessed relevant experience and knowledge to exercise the delegated powers appropriately.

Employment-related services on a fee-for-service basis

Under section 41(1)(k) of the Act, the Commissioner is able, on request, to provide advice and assistance to agencies on public service matters. Some of this work is conducted on a fee-for-service basis.

During 2006–07, the majority of work undertaken by regional offices in response to requests for employment-related services involved the recruitment and selection of staff. The Commission provided convenors, panel members and support for selection advisory committees for a number of agencies. Among the most frequent users of Commission services were the Child Support Agency, the Department of Defence, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Other fee-for-service activities included career counselling, alternative dispute resolution and organisational design. Over the year a total of 957 fee-for-service activities were conducted.

Employment-related fee-for-service activities include those provided under the Merit Protection Commissioner’s functions, such as Independent Selection Advisory Committees. More details about such committees and other fee-for-service activities performed on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner can be found in the Merit Protection Commissioner’s Annual Report at part four of this report.

Remuneration and workplace agreements

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) provides the Commission with copies of draft agency collective agreements for review against the Commission’s responsibilities provided for in the Government’s policy parameters for agreement making in the APS. In particular, the Commission’s advice includes an assessment of the redeployment, reduction and redundancy arrangements in agreements to ensure consistency with the requirement that agencies include compulsory redundancy arrangements (while also ensuring any changes do not enhance existing arrangements). The Commission also provides advice on a range of legislative and good practice issues, such as reviews of actions, merit, and APS staff recruitment/selection issues.

In 2006–07, comments on the redeployment, reduction and redundancy arrangements in agreements were provided to DEWR on 73 occasions. Of those agreements assessed, 70 (96%) were conducted within the five-day assessment period agreed with DEWR. The delays to the remaining assessments were caused by the complexity of the matters dealt with in the agreements. In comparison, comments were provided to DEWR on 60 occasions in 2005–06 and on 32 occasions in 2004–05.

Public interest whistleblowing

The Act and its Regulations provide for an APS whistleblowing scheme. Section 16 of the Act prohibits victimisation of, or discrimination against, an APS employee who reports a breach or alleged breach of the Code of Conduct (the Code). The regulations require agency heads to establish procedures for dealing with such reports. The procedures must observe procedural fairness, comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and provide that APS employees in the agency may report breaches or alleged breaches of the Code to the agency head, the Commissioner or the Merit Protection Commissioner.

Generally, disclosures should be made to the agency head, or a person authorised by the agency head and investigated by the relevant APS agency. Where it is not appropriate for the agency head to deal with a particular matter, or where the whistleblower is not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation by the agency, the whistleblower may report the matter to the Commissioner or Merit Protection Commissioner.

A total of 21 reports were sent to the Commissioner during 2006–07, four more than the number received during 2005–06. Eleven of these were from current employees and ten were from private citizens. Two reports were on hand at the end of the previous reporting period and concerned disclosures from APS employees in relation to the conduct of the Merit Protection Commissioner. In both cases, it was considered there was no evidence to support the allegations of inappropriate behaviour and in particular, it was the Public Service Commissioner’s view that the allegations relating to the Merit Protection Commissioner were reflecting the employees’ disappointment with the outcome of applications made by the employees in relation to review and whistleblowing matters.

Of the disclosures received during 2006–07, the Commissioner considered a disclosure from an employee in relation to the conduct of an agency head and other agency employees. It was considered that there was no evidence to support the allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by the employee. Of the remaining disclosures from APS employees, six did not meet the criteria for investigation by the Commissioner and four were on hand at the end of the reporting period. Of the four on hand, three were disclosures which met the criteria for investigation by the Commissioner. These investigations were not finalised at the end of the reporting period.

Where disclosures did not meet the criteria for consideration, advice was provided on ways in which concerns could be addressed either by referral to the relevant agency head or other administrative review bodies, such as the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Information on whistleblowing reports sent to the Merit Protection Commissioner is separately reported at part four of this report.