The Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 and Public Sector Employment and Management Regulation 1996 have been amendedto provide Departments and other public sector agencies with greater recruitment flexibility. These amendments are part of reforms recommended by the Council on the Cost and Quality of Government’s Review into Recruitment Practices in NSW Government (see C2007-21). The amendments to the Act commenced on 16 May 2008 and amendments to the Regulation commenced on 23 May 2008.

Advertising job vacancies on the Government recruitment website (Act, s.18 – applies to Departments)

• The requirement to advertise in the Public Sector Notices has been replaced with the requirement to advertise on the Government’s recruitment website (www.jobs.nsw.gov.au). 

Use of eligibility lists extended (Act, s.20 – applies to Departments)

• All eligibility lists are now current for 12 months. All eligibility lists created on or after 16 May 2008 will remain current for 12 months from their date of creation. Lists that had not expired by 16 May 2008 are now current for a further 6 months.
• Departments may now share eligibility lists to fill positions that are substantially the same. This will maximise the use of identified talent and reduce recruitment costs.  Until the new e-recruitment system is launched, the Public Sector Workforce Office has established an eligibility list forum to assist departments to share eligibility lists. Human resource managers can register for the forum by emailing: [email protected].

Publication of public service appointments clarified (Act, s.21 – applies to Departments)

• Amends s.19 of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal Act 1980 and makes consequential changes to the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal Regulation 2005 (cl. 4 and Form 1). Appointments now only need to be published on the Government’s recruitment website (www.jobs.nsw.gov.au), and no longer need to be distributed to employees if website access is made available to them. Until the new e-recruitment system is launched, appointments will continue to be published in the Public Sector Notices (PSN). The PSN can be accessed through the jobs.nsw website or through the Department of Commerce website (www.advertising.nswp.commerce.nsw.gov.au/notices.htm).

Conversion of long-term temporary to permanent employment more flexible (Act, s.31 – applies to Departments)

• A position to which a temporary Departmental employee may be appointed (after 2 years) no longer needs to have substantially the same duties as the position the employee was initially appointed to. Instead, the employee must have been performing duties at the same or a similar grade to the position the employee is being appointed to. Also, at some stage during the temporary employment, the employee must have been selected on merit to perform duties at that grade.

Conversion of long-term secondments to permanent appointments more flexible (Act, s.86 – applies to all public sector agencies)

• After 2 years, a person who has been selected on merit to an employee-initiated secondment with another agency may be permanently appointed to a position without the host agency having to advertise. Permanent appointment may now be at a higher grade than the employee’s substantive position in their home agency. For an employee to be appointed to a higher grade than their substantive grade, the employee must already be performing duties for the agency at that grade, after having been selected on merit to perform those duties.

Selection Committees reduced (Regulations, cl. 9 – applies to Departments)

• The Regulations now require a minimum of two people, rather than three, to sit on a selection committee.
• The independent member of the selection committee can now be from the same Department in which the vacancy exists, so long as that person is from a different branch or business unit to the vacancy.

The Personnel Handbook has been updated to provide guidance on implementing these changes. The Merit Selection Guide for the NSW Public Sector: Picking the best person for the job has been updated and the Merit Selection Techniques Online Refresher course is also being updated and will be available soon.

The attached Employment Options table is included in the Personnel Handbook. This table has been developed to provide agencies with a ready reference of available employment options (both new and existing), and scenarios for their effective application.

The provisions of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 and Regulation 1996, the Personnel Handbook and other recruitment policies provide significant scope for agencies to efficiently and effectively attract, recruit and retain quality staff. I urge agencies to maximise use of both new and existing flexibilities to support workforce planning needs and merit-based employment outcomes.

Robyn Kruk
Director General

Issued: Public Sector Workforce Office
Contact: Catherine Power, Recruitment and Redeployment Unit
Email: [email protected]
Telephone no: (02) 9228 4721
File no: PSM/12857-001