Promotion Review Committees
A Promotion Review Committee is established under the legislation to review a recruitment process to determine if the decision to promote was based on merit.
What is a Promotion Review Committee?
Members are appointed to a Promotion Review Committee under 5.2 of the Public Service Regulations and clause 82 of the Parliamentary Service Determination to perform promotion reviews on behalf of the Merit Protection Commissioner.
A committee has three independent members:
- a convenor who is nominated by the Merit Protection Commissioner
- a nominee from the promoting agency
- a person nominated by the Merit Protection Commissioner.
The role of the committee is to assess the relative merit of a person who has made a valid application to have another person’s promotion reviewed. ‘Relative merit’ is to compare the work-related qualities of each applicant. The committee decides who is the most suitable and has the greatest merit to perform the duties of role.
Legislative framework
When committees make their decision, they ensure they comply with all legislation and guidelines which are relevant to employment decision making in the APS and Parliamentary Service including:
- Public Service Act 1999
- Public Service Regulations 1999
- Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Direction 2022
- Parliamentary Service Act 1999
- Parliamentary Service Determination 2013
- Parliamentary Service Commissioner's Direction 2014
- Merit Protection Commissioner's Instructions relevant to APS employees and Parliamentary Service employees
- Privacy Act 1988
- Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation.
How does the committee reach its decision
The object of merits review is to reach the correct or preferable decision and in accordance with administrative decisions making principles. Every review must be conducted in a way that is open, fair, impartial and timely.
In a review of a promotion decision the committee must assess the relative merits of each person based on the:
- suitability of each applicant to perform the duties of the role
- relationship between each person’s work- related qualities genuinely required for the role
- capacity of each person to achieve outcomes.
The committee must carefully consider all the records related to the recruitment decision including the role description, essential criteria, referee reports, the selection report and the applicants statement of claim in support of their application. Depending on the circumstances, the committee members may decide to conduct interviews.
Once a decision is reached, the committee members complete a report. The members provide constructive feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
The review must be completed as soon as practical. The Merit Protection Commissioner has set a target of reviews with less than 10 parties should be completed within 10 weeks, and 14 weeks for more than 10 parties.
Being on a Promotion Review Committee
If you are interested in becoming a committee members you will receive training. You will develop experience and skills in merit-based decision-making, recruitment processes and administrative review.
The time commitment involved in participating in a committee depends on the complexity and size of the process. Most reviews will only involve a small time commitment from a few hours to a few days of work. If you are interested contact us.