The role of agencies and departments

The role of agencies and departments

When an employee from your agency seeks review by the MPC we will require you to send us relevant papers. The following practical information will assist with lodging these papers.  Advice on what information must be provided can be found here.

Cover sheet for lodging review papers

To assist agencies in lodging review paperwork, we have prepared these cover sheets. We have one for code of conduct and sanction reviews, and a second for all other review types, including secondary reviews, and direct primary reviews by the Merit Protection Commissioner.

Practical advice on lodging review documents

When you lodge documents relevant to a review matter, we offer the following advice and make the following requests:

• provide all papers by email to review@mpc.gov.au (zipped format is OK or sending over several emails is OK – please mark them email 1 of 2, 2 of 2, etc)
• where file size or security matters limit your ability to send via email, you may wish to contact us to send via GovTeams or another secure platform
• include a contents page identifying the documents by name and providing the contact details of your agency contact person
• attach each document in a separate attachment (do not embed documents)
• use .pdf format where possible [OCR/searchable format preferred]
• ensure all documents considered by the decision maker are included, as well as all relevant agency policy documents
• please redact all irrelevant third party personal information
• copy the documents you send to us to the applicant
• we may need to return documents to you if they do not meet the above requirements.

Information for Code of Conduct review

You will need to provide all of the information that was before the breach decision maker or sanction delegate. As a guide, this will likely include:

• your agency’s section 15(3) procedures
• your agency’s schedule of relevant delegations or authorisations
• any preliminary investigations conducted into the suspected misconduct
• notification of suspected breach of the Code of Conduct to the employee
• all submissions from the employee
• the investigation report with all attachments (i.e. all evidence collected by the investigator including records of discussions with relevant parties)
• the determination of the breach
• evidence of notification of the breach decision to the employee
• documents/correspondence to the employee notifying them of referral to sanction delegate
• sanction delegate’s preliminary view on sanction
• employee’s submission on sanction (including any references, financial information or other supporting information provided)
• any other documents relevant to the sanction decision
• the sanction decision
• evidence of notification of the sanction decision to the employee.

Information for other reviews

You will need to provide all of the relevant information that was before the decision maker (or person who took the action), as well as that considered by the primary reviewer. As a guide, this will likely include:

• correspondence related to the action
• reasons for decision (where relevant)
• reference to any legislation considered by the decision maker
• any policy documents relevant to the action – including policies, guidelines, information sheets, etc (in force at the time of the action)
• copy of or link to Enterprise Agreement (as at the time of the action)
• your agency’s schedule of relevant delegations or authorisations
• the application for primary review, with all attachments
• primary review report with all attachments
• notification of the decision to the applicant
• any further relevant policies or guidelines
• application for secondary review with all attachments.

Additional information required for review of performance management actions

• relevant performance management policies
• position description/duty statement
• if relevant, branch/unit business plan
• mid-cycle and end-cycle performance assessments, notes and feedback (for relevant period)
• all evidence relied upon to establish the level of performance, for example, work samples, feedback, coaching notes, emails, relevant statistics, etc.

If you need any assistance you can contact us at review@mpc.gov.au or on (02) 8239 5330 (option 2).

Expectations and service standards

You can expect us to:

• treat you with respect and courtesy, and in accordance with the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct
• be impartial and unbiased
• properly consider all relevant matters
• answer your questions and keep you informed of progress
• complete reviews as quickly as proper consideration of the matter allows.

We expect agencies to:

• provide us with all the relevant material in an accessible format and as quickly as possible (refer to this guidance)
• provide the review applicant with a copy of any information given to this Office. Where agencies have concerns about releasing information subject to legal professional privilege, or where other specific concerns arise, please contact the Office.
• respond to requests for further information in a timely manner, including assisting us to contact and speak to relevant employees or other people when required.

We expect review applicants to:

• treat us with respect and courtesy, and in accordance with the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct
• provide us with relevant information about their review application in a timely manner
• ensure their contact details are kept up-to-date.