Merit Protection Commissioner’s Review
Under the Public Service Act 1999, a key part of the role of Merit Protection Commissioner is to provide independent external review of employment related actions affecting individual APS employees. This provides support for the APS Value that ‘the APS provides a fair system of review of decisions taken in respect of APS employees’—paragraph 10(1)(o) of the Act.
The review system established under section 33 of the Act and the Public Service Regulations enables non-SES APS employees to apply for review of actions that relate to their employment. The powers of the Merit Protection Commissioner are recommendatory only, except in the case of promotion decisions where the decision of a Promotion Review Committee (PRC) is binding on the relevant agency head. In all other cases, the agency head is required to advise the Merit Protection Commissioner of their decision on the recommendation and the reasons for that decision.
As in previous years, in 2007–08 virtually all recommendations made in relation to applications for review of action were accepted in full by the relevant agency heads.
Information on the number of applications for review during the year, their subject matter and discussion of trends is provided under ‘Review of performance’. Compared with last year, the numbers of individual cases have increased in most categories. In particular, there was nearly a 30% increase in the number of PRC cases from the previous year. Uncertainty in the context of an election year, combined with the current efficiency dividend measures, may have had a bearing in this respect. Compared with previous years, there was also a large increase, nearly 56%, in the number of applications for secondary review of actions.
On the other hand, there was a 32% decrease in the number of requests for fee-for-service activities from the previous year. This may also have been due, in part, to the current efficiency dividend measures. It also reflects a decrease in selection work undertaken for the Australian Federal Police.
Over the year the Australian Taxation Office has continued to use streamlined Independent Selection Advisory Committee (ISAC) processes for major national recruitment exercises, using innovative selection methodologies supported by third party industry providers. Indicators show the use of these processes has ensured that the placement of successful candidates is more timely and efficient.
During the year, the Merit Protection Commissioner took advantage of a number of opportunities to promote the role and functions, addressing several APS agencies and other government organisations, including the Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink. The Merit Protection Commissioner also presented at a number of APS development programmes and conferences, hosted events and provided information on the role and that of the Australian Public Service Commission generally to international delegations, including groups from Bhutan, Thailand, Iraq and Bangladesh. The keen interest of these international delegations in the Australian approach to merit and the review function is a testament to our high standing in these fields.
The National Public Sector Appeals Conference, held in Perth in October 2007, was attended by the Acting Merit Protection Commissioner and the Regional Director, Western Australia. The conference is held annually and provides an opportunity for the exchange of views by senior Commonwealth, State and Territory public sector representatives engaged in external review of employment-related decisions.
Last year new timeliness targets were set for completion of review work, which included a benchmark of 70% of cases to be completed within the new targets. This year, there was an improvement in the percentage of cases completed within target times in two of the three review categories in which applications were reviewed (Tables M1 and M1.1). The exception was applications for secondary review. The decrease in the percentage of these applications completed within the target time can be attributed in part to the large increase in the number of applications received and reviewed, and the increasing complexity of those cases. In particular, the cases are presenting more complex and intertwined issues such as overlaps with bullying and harassment allegations, performance management, stress related claims and earlier formalisation of cases by agencies which leads to more firmly held positions and extended timeframes. The benchmark for completion of cases within target times was reached in relation to PRCs with 73% of cases finalised within the target time even though there was a substantial increase in cases.
The practice of including case studies to illustrate the more significant issues encountered during the year has been continued. The four case studies in question can be found later in this report.
Outlook
The Merit Protection Commissioner is committed to enhancing the understanding among APS agencies of the role and how statutory and other responsibilities support a high performing APS. Independent reviews are an important pillar in the integrity and accountability framework by holding APS decision makers accountable for the integrity of their decision-making processes—not just the outcomes. In particular, the Commissioner's role involves providing support to improve the quality of APS employment-related decision making and professional working relationships.
In providing these services the Merit Protection Commissioner seeks to:
- uphold fair, consistent, transparent and quality employment related decision making
- encourage positive, respectful and professional working relationships between all parties
- provide ongoing learning and thought leadership based on unique insights into the APS.
The Merit Protection Commissioner’s internal priorities for the coming year are to review and streamline our case management methodologies and identify and enhance capability development. A number of key staff are currently devoting their time to updating support material for our review staff and ensuring they have comprehensive and up-to-date tools to support their activities. The Merit Protection Commissioner will be looking at both formal and informal training and development interventions to continue to build the capability of the staff who undertake the review work as members of the dedicated review team and consider opportunities to extend this to the wider APS review community where appropriate.
The Merit Protection Commissioner’s external priorities for the coming year are to develop and implement an external communication strategy and look at scoping a project to define and provide better practice advice to agencies on conducting reviews. The Merit Protection Commissioner expects to be sending out a new suite of pamphlets covering the role, the review scheme and the use of ISACs, to agency heads in July 2008. Further development is under way on complementing these pamphlets with more detailed information on the Australian Public Service Commission website.
Notes
Transmittal letter Commissioner's review Role, function and structure Management accountability Review of performance