Glossary

APS agency

An APS agency operates under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth). This includes departments, statutory agencies and executive agencies. APS agencies are a subset of Commonwealth agencies.

APS employee

An APS employee is an employee engaged under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth).

Base classification

Another term for substantive classification, which is the classification level an APS employee has been engaged at, or were last promoted to.

Commonwealth agency

An agency under the Commonwealth of Australia, including those not covered under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth).

Engagement

An engagement refers to the engagement or re-engagement of employees under Section 22 of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth). Employees of agencies moving into coverage of the Act are counted as engagements. Engagement can be employment as an ongoing APS employee; for a specified term or for the duration of a specified task; or for duties that are irregular or intermittent.

Job family/ies

The APS Job Family Model groups functionally similar positions that have related skills, tasks and knowledge requirements. The model does not reflect work level classification.

Non-ongoing

Non-ongoing employment is a generic term which refers to the engagement of APS employees for either a specified term or for the duration of a specified task or for duties that are irregular or intermittent as mentioned in sections 22(2)(b) and (c) of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth).

Ongoing

Ongoing employment refers to the employment of an APS employee as an ongoing employee as mentioned in Section 22(2) (a) of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth).

Paid classification

The actual classification that an employee is currently working in. It includes employees on temporary assignment to a higher or lower classification.

Planned leave

Planned leave includes annual leave and long service leave.

Promotion

A promotion is when an existing APS employee moves to a higher classification level. For example, an APS 6 employee is successful in gaining a promotion to an EL 1 classification.

Unplanned leave

Includes the following leave types: sick, community service, compassionate, Defence Reservist, leave without pay, miscellaneous, parental, and workers compensation.

Unscheduled absence

Includes the following leave types: personal, carers and miscellaneous leave (bereavement, compassionate and emergency leave).

Separation

A separation occurs when an employee ceases to be employed under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth). It does not refer to employees moving from one APS agency to another. Separations include retirement, resignations, and terminations of employment for grounds stated at section 29 in the Act.

Stewardship

Stewardship in the public sector context refers to the effective planning, management and protection of resources; as well as to the role of building a culture of innovation and integrity in policy advice. Under section 57 of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth), as part of their roles, Secretaries are expected to provide stewardship to their departments.