The Public Service Medal is a prestigious national medal within the Australian Honours System designed to recognise public sector officers who have made a contribution to the community through the outstanding performance of their duties. The medal is awarded by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Premier.

Nominations for the Medal are made to the Premier by Chief Executive Officers, through the NSW Public Service Medal Committee which is administered by the Premier's Department.

As part of the Government's commitment to excellence in public sector management, I am keen that officers who make an outstanding contribution through their work are appropriately recognised through nomination for the Medal. It should be noted that the Medal is awarded for meritorious service and long service alone is not a sufficient basis for nomination.

The award of the Medal is not confined to senior managers but is available to any public sector employee. It has been awarded in the past to administrative/clerical staff and employees involved in more 'operational' roles. In all of these instances, 'outstanding service' has been the definitive criteria for the Medal.

Applications for the award are available from Mrs Rita Vrontas on telephone (02) 9228 5529. A copy of the application form is attached to this circular.

C. Gellatly
Director-General.

PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL

Nomination form for Public Sector Employees of the States and Territories

The Information contained in this document will be held in confidence and will be kept secure at all times.

Full Name

Occupation

Address

Telephone Number

Signature Date

Details of person being recommended for an award:

Please complete the section below and provide a nomination statement either on the page overleaf or separately, taking the Guidelines into account.

Surname Given name(s) Title

Home address

Telephone Number

Occupation

Salary level

Business address

Telephone Number

Awards and/or degrees

Date and place of birth
If born outside Australia: (a) Naturalisation Certificate details or (b) Country of citizenship

NB: Nominees should not be approached direct for naturalisation details

Referees:

Please list the names of people who have provided a referee statement to support the nomination. At least four should be provided, including, if appropriate, referees from outside the public service. Referees should refer to examples of outstanding service using the four elements in the guidelines.

Name

Position

Name

Position

Name

Position

NOMINATION STATEMENT

Please set out below, or in an endorsed attachment, the services of the nominee which are considered worthy of recognition. The statement should provide some background on the nominee's career and highlight the element of outstanding service for which the nomination is being made. Reference to the broader elements referred to in the Guidelines may assist the preparation of the nomination.

THE AWARD

The Public Service Medal is part of the official system of honours and awards.

Only 100 awards of the PSM can be made in any calendar year. Of these, 30 can be awarded to Commonwealth officers and the remainder are distributed to the State and Territories as follows: NSW (22), VIC (17), QLD (11), WA (6), SA (6), TAS (3), ACT (3) and NT (2).

Recipients of the Public Service Medal are entitled to use the letters 'PSM' after their names to show that their outstanding service has been formally recognised.

WHAT IS THE MEDAL AWARDED FOR?

The sole criteria for the award of the Public Service Medal is outstanding public service. Outstanding Service includes service above and beyond the normal requirements of the position, a special achievement or success in the performance of duty in difficult or unusual circumstances, or sustained performance by an individual with a focus on outcomes and recognisable benefits to clients and the workplace. Long service should not be used as a basis for making nominations.

Outstanding service could be shown through:

• Service excellence to the public, or to external or internal clients;
• innovation in program, project or policy development;
• Ieadership, from below or as a member of a team; or
• the achievement of more efficient processes, cost savings, improved products or better service delivery.

  WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

  All Public Sector employees of the Commonwealth Government, State and Territory governments and local governments are eligible for the medal, except for members of the Defence Force, and the police and fire services who are eligible for comparable awards. The medal is not reserved for senior officers - it is open to all levels of the public service.

  Past awards have been made across a brood range of government services and locations.

  The PSM may be awarded only once to each recipient. A person who has received a PSM and gives further distinguished service may be nominated subsequently for an award in the Order of Australia. Similarly, a person who has received an award in the Order of Australia is not excluded from receiving a Public Service Medal, although at least five years should elapse between the announcement of awards, in accordance with established honours convention.

  Citizenship

  A person does not have to be an Australian citizen to be awarded the Public Service Medal. However, if the nominated person is not an Australian Citizen, the Commonwealth, in accordance with honours convention, must seek the agreement of the government of the country of citizenship before the award can be made. If the nominee is not an Australian citizen, the nomination should clearly indicate this, and if the nomination is recommended to the Governor-General, the Governor-General's office will arrange for the Commonwealth Government to seek the appropriate agreement.

  Retired Officers

  Awards of the Public Service Medal can be made to former public servants, provided the recommendation is received by the Governor-General in time for the award to be announced within twelve months of the completion of service.

  Posthumous awards

  The Public Service Medal is not awarded posthumously.

  HOW SHOULD NOMINATIONS BE PREPARED?

  The nomination form

  As the Public Service Medal is part of the official national honours system, it is important to provide full personal details of the nominee, including the full name and home address. All information provided is treated as confidential, and if the nomination is successful the nominee will have the opportunity to advise whether they wish their address details to be published.

  Full position details are required so that the PSM Committee (see below) can assess the nomination relative to the duties which would normally be expected of a person of a particular level. This is very important for the committee when comparing nominations.

  The nomination statement must contain comprehensive information on the services or achievement for which the nomination is being made. A list of positions held over a number of years is not sufficient. Because the nomination will be considered alongside other nominations in what is essentially a competitive process, the committee needs to be given a clear idea of what the nominee has done to fulfil the criteria of outstanding service. It should not be assumed that the committee has a detailed knowledge of the area in which the nominee has worked, or a full understanding of the significance of certain achievements. These services should be put into context in the nomination statement.

  Referee support

  To be properly considered by the committee, all nominations must be accompanied by referee statements which comment on the services of the nominee. It may be appropriate to obtain referee statements from outside the public service, for instance if the nominee is being nominated for outstanding services to a particular community or industry. If the nominee's services relate to the work of another agency, a referee statement from that agency may also help the committee in their consideration of the nomination.

  There is no limit on the number of referee statements provided, although three to four would normally be sufficient.

  Other

  Nominations for the award of the Public Service Medal should be made through the relevant departmental Secretary or Chief Executive Officer, who should then forward the nomination to the Secretary, Public Service Medal Committee, at the address shown below. The nominations should clearly show that they have the support of the Departmental Secretary or Agency Head.

  HOW ARE NOMINATIONS CONSIDERED?

  The various Public Service Medal Committees consider those nominations for eligible employees.

  PSM Committees meet twice a year to consider nominations for the Australia Day and Queen's Birthday honours lists. Dates should be checked with the Committee Secretary in each State/Territory.

  After considering the nominations, the Committee recommends a list of proposed recipients to their Premier or responsible Minister, who then makes a recommendation to the Governor-General who has the authority to approve the awards.

  Responsibility for contacting the proposed recipients rests with the Honours Secretariat of Government House which arranges for the announcement of the awards to appear in the Commonwealth Gazette. Proposed recipients may decline an award when approached by the Honours Secretariat, if they wish. Some time after gazettal the recipients will be notified by Government House of the arrangements for them to receive their medal at an official investiture.

  PSM COMMITTEE SECRETARIAT

  Nominations for the PSM for State/Territory employees, or queries concerning the nomination process, should be directed to the PSM Committee Secretary in the relevant State/Territory. Details are shown below.