APS classification guide
Foreword by the Public Service Commissioner
The APS classification review has been undertaken in response to Recommendation 6.1 of Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration (the Blueprint) which required a review of existing non-SES APS classification arrangements and work level standards to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of APS agencies and employees.
The review was undertaken by members of the APSC Workforce Classification team (Mr Owen Livermore, Ms Brooke Everett, Ms Erin Selmes, Ms Elyse Allan and Ms Louise Hooper). I thank them for their diligent research and analysis, which included considerable consultation with agencies and other interested parties. I would also like to acknowledge the work of the APS classification review Steering Committee and thank the members Ms Penny Weir, Mr Blair Exell, Mr Ian Ewing, Ms Maree Bridger, Ms Carmel McGregor, Ms Jenet Connell, Mr Andrew Stuart, Ms Jacqui Curtis, Ms Jackie Wilson and Mr Geoff Leeper for their advice and able guidance throughout the review process.
In conducting the review, the team tested the current classification system, which began in 1998, against the objectives of the Blueprint; to facilitate the attraction, retention and mobility of employees in support of a united APS.
After considerable analysis, the review has concluded the existing APS classification arrangements remain sound although there is a strong opportunity to improve the application of the classification system within agencies through improved guidance and support. The recommendations in this report seek to achieve this by providing practical tools and processes to better support agencies in making consistent and equitable classification decisions.
Steve Sedgwick AO
Public Service Commissioner
Introduction
The Australian Public Service (APS) classification guide has been developed by the Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) and provides policy guidance on determining and managing classification arrangements in the APS. This guide is current as at 1 December 2014.
How to use this guide
This guide provides general advice on workforce classification within the APS and replaces the 1992 publication Handbook of Australian Public Service Classification Management. It outlines the broad framework and principles underlying the system of classification management, and provides guidance and advice on techniques that agencies can use when putting these principles into practice.
While many of the principles and practices identified in this guide are relevant across all APS classification levels, this guide is aimed primarily at the classifications APS Levels 1-6 and Executive Levels 1-2. Information relevant to Senior Executive Service (SES) classification levels has been incorporated where appropriate.
Why have this guide?
The reform work stemming from Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration (2010) sought to clarify and align employment conditions across the APS, and in particular to ensure that non-SES classification arrangements and work level standards continued to meet the needs of APS agencies and employees. The report on the APS classification review, published in November 2012, made a series of recommendations to strengthen the integrity of the classification system and to achieve greater consistency in classification decision-making across the APS.
This guide has been developed in response to recommendations made in the APS classification review. It presents a common approach to classification management across the APS and builds on good practice already in place in many APS agencies. The opportunity is taken in this guide to share these good practice examples within a classification framework that is common to all.
Acknowledgement
This guide was prepared by the Commission's Workforce Classification team. Major contributors were Ms. Erin Selmes, Ms. Elyse Allan, Mr. Izaac White, Ms. Louise Memmolo, and Mr. Owen Livermore.
We thank and acknowledge the contribution of agencies that participated in the APS classification review working group, and of agencies that contributed case studies for publication. Without the assistance of these agencies, the guide would not have been possible.
Further advice
Further information on classification management is available contacting the Employment Policy team via EmploymentPolicy@apsc.gov.au.