Am I eligible to apply

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply for a promotion review, you must:

• be ongoing APS or Parliamentary Service employee
• be employed at classification level 5 (or equivalent) or lower
• have applied for a promotion to a role at a higher classification, up to classification level 6 (or equivalent)
• the position was advertised in the APS Employment Gazette at APSjobs
• have applied for a role at the same location as the successful applicant.

The entitlement to seek a review does not apply to promotions to the Executive Level 1-2 or SES roles, however some promotions to the Executive Levels that contain serious defects, may be subject to review of a workplace decision.

A 'promotion' is defined as a permanent move to a job at a higher classification level. For a promotion review to be an option, the person who won the role must also be an ongoing APS or Parliamentary Service employee who has won a permanent role at a higher classification.

What if I won a promotion?

In some circumstances, a person who won the promotion and who meets the review eligibility criteria may decide to seek a review. This is sometimes called a 'protective application' and only occurs when the agency has used the recruitment round to appoint people to multiple promotions, often across one or more locations. 

A 'protective' application simply means if your promotion is subject to a promotion review, you are entitled to seek a review of one of the other successful applicants. So if your promotion was ultimately overturned by the promotion review committee, your 'protective' application would trigger a merit review process to assess your promotion against one of the other multiple promotion decisions. 

If you are not sure if this applies to you call us on 02 8239 5330 (option 1).

Why seek a promotion review?

You do not need to provide us with a reason for why you have applied for a promotion review. It is a legislated entitlement given to ongoing APS and Parliamentary service employees seeking a promotion to a role up to classification APS level 6, or equivalent.

Some reasons you may have, include:

• you believe you are better qualified than the person who was promoted
• you believe you are the most suitable person for the role
• you believe the recruitment outcome was not based on merit
• you have been part of a large recruitment round, sometimes called a 'bulk recruitment' and are concerned your own promotion will be subject to a review.

It is important to note that to be successful in overturning a promotion decision, you need to be able to demonstrate that you have stronger claims and work-related qualities for the position than the person who was promoted.

Location and why is it important

You can only seek a promotion review in the location(s) that you applied for in your original job application.

For example, if the agency advertised Service Officer roles in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth, but you only applied for the Perth role, you can only seek a review of the Perth promotion. 

A common scenario

Case Study

The Department for Beaches and Rivers advertised two APS Level 5 Services Officer roles, one located in Darwin and one in Brisbane. Both positions were in the same job advertisement, with the same vacancy number. Many people applied to be considered for the roles, and after a merit based selection process, Mai was successful in being promoted to the role in Darwin, and Alex was successful in being promoted to the role in Brisbane. Other applicants, like Jamie, were not successful in being promoted on this occasion.

In situations like this, we often receive applications from applicants who were unsuccessful in gaining promotion (called unsuccessful job applicants), and from those who were successful in being promoted (called promoted job applicants). We will explain why below.

Who are the applicants?

 

Mai: I'm an ongoing employee in the Department of Beaches and Rivers. I'm an APS level 4. I applied for a promotion in Darwin only.	Alex: I'm an ongoing employee in a different agency. I'm an APS level 3, but I've been acting at APS level 4 for 2 years. I applied for a promotion in either Darwin or Brisbane.	Jamie: I'm an ongoing employee in the Department of Beaches and Rivers. I'm an APS level 4. I applied for a promotion in either Darwin or Brisbane.

Who can apply for promotion review, and against whom?

Jamie:

• Jamie was unfortunately not successful in winning a promotion.
• In his original job application, Jamie applied to be considered for a role in both Darwin and Brisbane.
• Jamie can put in a review application against both Mai, who was promoted to Darwin, and against Alex, who was promoted to Brisbane. 

Mai:

• Mai was the only person promoted in Darwin.
• Mai did not apply in any other locations.
• Mai can't apply for a review, as there is no one else who won a promotion in Darwin to appeal against.
• Mai will be a party to a review, even though she didn't apply, because Jamie has appealed against Mai.

Alex:

• Even though Alex is from a different department, that doesn't matter, anyone can apply for a promotion review if they were an applicant for the role, and they are an ongoing employee in any agency or department in the APS or Parliamentary Service.
• Alex was the only person promoted in Brisbane.
• In their original job application, Alex applied to be considered in both Brisbane and Darwin.
• As we know, Jamie has applied for a review against Alex.
• If Jamie overturns Alex's promotion, Alex may wish to be compared to Mai, to see who has the most merit for the Darwin role.
• Alex can therefore apply for a review against Mai, for the Darwin role, just in case Jamie is successful in winning the Brisbane role.

What did the Promotion Review Committee decide?

The Committee decided that Mai had the most merit for the Darwin role, and Alex for the Brisbane role. The agency's decision was confirmed.

Although Jamie wasn't successful in their application, he did receive some helpful feedback from the committee, which helped him in future job applications.