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Last updated: 15 August 2005
Ongoing employment – Recruitment and related issues
Please note: This document is no longer current and is provided for reference purposes only.
Stage 2: Notification and acceptance of applications
Step 7. Accept applications
Closing date for applications
It is up to the agency concerned to decide on the closing date for applications for any employment opportunity. However, consistent with APS Value 10(1)(m), this decision should take account of the need to give potential applicants a reasonable opportunity to develop and lodge an application.
Late applications
Each agency should develop policies which cover the receipt of applications after the closing date for a selection exercise. If a late application is accepted before the Agency Head makes a decision, the candidate must be assessed on the same basis as all other candidates. This might involve giving other applicants the opportunity to provide other information, particularly if the time frame means that their claims against the selection criteria could be strengthened by activities undertaken since their application was submitted (eg since making the application a person may have undertaken a relevant training course).
Accepting late applications where there has been a long delay (for whatever reason) between the Gazette notification and undertaking the selection exercise, may raise perceptions of patronage or favouritism.
Inappropriate use of 'late applications' includes:
- allowing a candidate to lodge a 'late application' and adding their name to an existing order of merit that has been previously approved by the Agency Head in order to fill the same or a similar employment opportunity. Even if the candidate may be considered suitable, the action could be seen as patronage or favouritism. It could also be seen as a failure to meet the Value of reasonable access for all eligible members of the community, as other potential suitable applicants have not been given a similar chance to compete on merit.
- conducting a selection exercise following a Gazette notification, making a decision not to proceed with the exercise and then reactivating the process within the 12 month period and inviting selected persons to submit 'late applications'. This action could conflict with the APS Values of merit, reasonable access, fairness and equity.
Expressions of interest
The question of who has applied for a promotion or engagement is important for review purposes and for establishing orders of merit. Only a person who submitted an application for an employment opportunity notified in the Gazette can be considered as a candidate for engagement or promotion. An expression of interest would not normally have the status of an application but may be accepted depending on individual agency practice.
The only people entitled to a review of a reviewable promotion decision are ongoing APS employees who have applied for promotion to the relevant employment (Regulation 5.7).
