The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has recently released guidance and legislation that will affect the way HR professionals in the APS meet obligations under the Public Service Act 1999 (the Act), uphold the APS Values, and more.
Make sure you familiarise yourselves with the new guidance and legislation and update any internal process documentation to reflect them.
Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 2022
The new Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 2022 sets standards that Agency Heads and APS employees must comply with to meet their obligations under the Act. It replaces the 2016 Commissioner’s Directions, which were due to sunset on 1 April 2023.
There are a number of new provisions to be aware of, including:
- greater flexibility in utilising merit lists and merit pools
- mandating integrity training for APS employees
- requiring agencies to consult or notify (depending on circumstances) the APS Commissioner before entering into a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement with an APS employee
- further guidance on when an employee’s name can be excluded from the Gazette when publishing a termination for breach of the Code of Conduct
- directing that APS employees be engaged on probation
- how employment-related data is to be provided by agencies to the Commission
- requiring Agency Heads to consult with the APS Commissioner regarding suspected breaches of the Code of Conduct by SES employees.
To read the Directions or find out more, visit the Commissioner's Directions page.
Handling misconduct: A human resource manager’s guide
The Handling misconduct: A human resource manager’s guide provides best practice advice on APS employee conduct requirements and options for addressing behaviour that doesn’t meet the following standards:
- APS Values
- Employment Principles
- Code of Conduct.
The updated guide will help empower agencies and build the capabilities of HR staff to make tailored, proportionate decisions about individual cases of misconduct by:
- setting out considerations for agencies when a conduct concern is first identified
- providing a diagnostic approach to understanding an issue and assessing its seriousness, to support an effective and proportionate response
- setting out a range of management actions agencies can take for less serious matters, where a misconduct investigation would be disproportionate.
This additional material seeks to encourage agencies to explore a range of options in managing employee conduct issues, while emphasising the importance of taking a proportionate response in every case. It will also help ensure that agencies across the APS have a consistent set of principles in assessing each matter on its merits.
You can read the guide now. Or, for further information, contact the Commission’s:
- Employment Policy team in relation to recruitment and probation matters at employmentpolicy@apsc.gov.au
- Integrity and Ethics team in relation to integrity, non-disclosure and Code of Conduct matters at ethics@apsc.gov.au