A whole-of-government e-Recruitment system - approved by the Cabinet Standing Committee on the Budget in December 2007 and reinforced in a recent recommendation by the Industrial Relations Commission in the Crown Employees Salary award settlement - is central to ongoing reform of recruitment policy and practice.

After significant consultation with the sector, the e-Recruitment tender opened a week ahead of schedule on December 8. The system will be rolled out across the sector between October 2009 and December 2010.

e-Recruitment will be able to be used for all types of recruitment. It will make managing vacancies, position descriptions, employment criteria, advertising, candidate correspondence, and data collection for workforce planning, faster and easier.

In addition to these important efficiencies, full agency participation in e-Recruitment will result in significant economies of scale provided by whole-of-government purchasing.

While e-Recruitment will speed up recruitment for both employers and potential employees, the practice of merit-based selection will not be compromised.

To ensure there is no unnecessary duplication of effort and expenditure, all Chief Executive Officers of agencies considering and/or commissioning an interim system (excluding SOCs) should reassess and redirect their resources into supporting e-Recruitment.

To discuss your agencies particular circumstances please contact Mark Webb, Director e-Recruitment, Public Sector Workforce Office, Department of Premier and Cabinet, phone 02 9228 3363 or [email protected].

John Lee (signed)
Director General

This circular supersedes Circular 2007-05