Definitions

The following definitions are drawn from the Department of Finance, largely from the Audit of Employment.[3]

External workforce

For the purposes of this framework, the external workforce includes workers providing a service or conducting work for an APS agency where there is no direct employment relationship between the worker and that APS agency. The worker is not an APS employee engaged under the Public Service Act 1999.  The external workforce captured by the framework includes workers procured through labour hire, contracting and consulting arrangements.

Labour hire:

• Labour hire is a “triangular employment arrangement” where a government entity procures a labour hire company to provide a worker to undertake a temporary role which is often generalist in nature. 
  • There is no direct employment contract between the government entity and the individual employee. The labour hire company contracts the worker to provide that labour and is responsible for paying the worker.
• The output is generally regarded a Commonwealth product and is produced under the supervision of the Commonwealth entity.

Contractors (also known as Professional Contractors):

• Individuals, sole traders or service providers procured by a government entity to perform a specialised role for a short and fixed-term. 
• A contractor will generally hold requisite qualifications and licenses in their chosen field of work, and bring relevant industry experience to the role.
• Use of contractors is for short term arrangements involving a one-off or irregular tasks.
• The output is generally regarded a Commonwealth product and services are performed under the direction and supervision of the Commonwealth entity.

Consultants:

• Individuals, partnerships or corporations procured by a government entity to provide professional or expert services or independent advice as part of a one-off or irregular task to support entity decision-making.
• The output reflects the independent view or findings of the consultancy or consultant, and the output may not belong to the contracting entity unless specifically required under the contract. 
  • Consultants generally operate under a lower level of direction and control, and the output may not belong to the entity.

Outsourced service providers:

• External services procured via commercial arrangement to deliver a function of Government to, or on behalf of, an entity.

Temporary arrangements:

An appropriate length of arrangements of an external worker may depend on the complexity of the project or contract. According to the Department of Finance Contract Management guide, transactional or routine contracts usually extend for short periods (a few days to a couple of months), while complex and strategic contracts may extend from a few months to several years.

APS employment arrangements

Ongoing APS employee:

A person engaged as an ongoing APS employee, employed as paragraph 22(2)(a) of the Public Service Act 1999.

Non‑ongoing APS employee:

A person engaged as a non-ongoing APS employee, for specified term or for the duration of a specified task. Non-ongoing employee is employed as paragraph 22(2)(b)(c) of the Public Service Act 1999.

Temporary transfer:

An ongoing APS employee who is temporarily transferred under S26 of the Public Service Act 1999. The employee retains their ongoing employment status with the substantive agency, however becomes temporarily employed by the gaining agency. 

Conversion:

Conversion of external labour occurs when a position or role that is currently being, or would normally be, performed by external labour becomes an APS position or role, resulting in creation of a new APS position where the position would be paid through payroll.