Review of promotion decisions
Merit Protection Commissioner
This brochure provides general information for Australian Public Service (APS) employees about the promotion review process administered by the Merit Protection Commissioner.[1]
A promotion is the ongoing movement of an APS employee to a job at a higher classification level. A move to a higher classification within an agency’s broadband is not a promotion.
Certain decisions involving the engagement of Parliamentary Service employees in the APS are also subject to review.[2]
Role of the Merit Protection Commissioner
The Merit Protection Commissioner is an independent statutory office holder[3] who has a range of functions relating to the employment framework of the APS, including the promotion review function.
The Merit Protection Commissioner is assisted by staff of the Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission).
Benefits for agencies and employees
Promotion reviews are conducted quickly and do not substantially delay agency staff selection processes. They provide an important assurance mechanism that merit is being properly applied to promotion decisions. The promotion review process also provides a quality and integrity check on agency decision-making and protects against patronage and nepotism.
Who conducts the review?
Promotion reviews are conducted by an independent and impartial committee established by the Merit Protection Commissioner. The promotion review committee (PRC) consists of three independent members:
- a convenor nominated by the Merit Protection Commissioner
- a nominee from the relevant agency
- a third member nominated by the Merit Protection Commissioner.
The convenor will be an employee of the Commission with expertise in merit-based staff selection. The third member will be an APS employee who has the relevant skills and experience to undertake merit-based staff selection. Each member of the PRC must declare their impartiality in carrying out their duties.
A PRC must follow the binding instructions issued by the Merit Protection Commissioner but a PRC cannot be directed further when carrying out their duties. This means that they act independently and need to form their own judgment about applicants.
The Merit Protection Commissioner’s Privacy Policy is available at:
Information about the promotion review process
Eligibility for promotion review
Promotion decisions are published weekly on Thursdays in the Public Service Gazette < Promotions normally take effect four weeks after the promotion has been published in the Gazette, subject to any promotion reviews.
A person can apply for a promotion review in these circumstances (known as an active review):
- a promotion decision has been published in the Gazette for a job(s) at the APS 1 to 6 classifications
- the person is an ongoing APS employee who has applied unsuccessfully for promotion to the job(s)
- the successful candidate is an ongoing APS employee who will be promoted to the job, or is an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee to be ‘engaged’ in the APS at a higher classification than their current level.
Promotion decisions made on the recommendation of an Independent Selection Advisory Committee (ISAC) are not reviewable.
Some selection exercises fill multiple job vacancies and result in two or more people being promoted. If employee A has successfully applied for promotion in this circumstance and expectsan unsuccessful candidate (employee B) to seek a review of their promotion, employee A is able to make an application for review of another successful candidate’s (employee C) promotion. This is known as a ‘protective’ review application. In the event that employee B’s application for review is successful, employee A’s claims to promotion will still be considered against employee C.
The only ground for a review of a promotion is merit, i.e., the review applicant believes they have stronger claims, in terms of work-related qualities needed to perform the particular job, than the person who was promoted. Work-related qualities include skills and abilities; qualifications, training and competencies; standard of work performance and personal qualities.
Applying forReview
Review applicants will need to provide the information required on the online application form available from the Commission website. If you are unable to lodge your application for review online, please contact the Review Team by phone on (02) 8239 5330 or (See Further information). No other documentation is required at this stage.
An application for review must be received by 5pm local time on the 14th day after the date the promotion appeared in the Gazette, unless special arrangements have been notified in that Gazette.
Notification of a Review Application
Commission staff will determine the validity of an application and advise the employing agency and the parties to the review accordingly. The parties to the review are the review applicants and the promotees nominated by the applicants for review.
Information on promotions that have attracted review applications is posted on the Commission’s website on the day following the due date for applications. This is usually 14 days after the promotion appears in the Gazette. Detailed information on the process will then be provided to the relevant agency recruitment area, and to the parties to the review, by Commission staff.
The agency will need to provide information about the original promotion decision to the PRC. Review parties are not given access to this informationas they do not need it to present their claims to the PRC.
The agency will be asked to nominate a person to be the agency nominee on the PRC. This should be a person who was not involved in the original promotion decision(s).
Information provided to a PRC
Each party to the review must provide the PRC with a statement of their claims for promotion to the job. Generally the statement needs to be sent to the PRC within 14 days after the closing date for lodging a review application for the promotion.
Review parties may seek feedback from the agency on their own performance in the selection exercise in accordance with the agency’s selection policies.
What does the PRC assess?
The PRC assesses the relative merit of the person promoted and each person who has validly applied for review of that promotion decision. The PRC does not review the original selection process.
Relative merit means deciding who is most suitable to perform the duties of the job successfully. The PRC process is fair and transparent.If the PRC receives adverse information about a party to the review, the PRC will give the party an opportunity to comment on that information.
PRC decision
The PRC makes an independent decision about which person(s) shall be promoted using all information available at the time the PRC convenes. The agency will be advised formally of the PRC decision. The decision is binding and takes effect 4 weeks after the agency has been notified, unless another arrangement is reached.[4]
How long does a PRC take
A PRC decision must be finished as quickly as a proper consideration of the matter allows. The Merit Protection Commissioner has set a target that a PRC with less than 10 parties should be completed within 10 weeks from the notification of the promotion in the Gazette and a PRC with more than 10 parties, within 14 weeks.
What if a party is not satisfied?
If an employee is not satisfied with the outcome of a promotion review process there is no further right of administrative review under the Act or the Regulations.
To take the matter further, an employee would need to apply to a court for judicial review, under the general law or the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. In such cases, it would be prudent to seek independent legal advice.
Further information
Further information is available at:
The email address for the Review Team is: .
The current telephone of this office can be found at:
[1]The legislative basis for the promotion review process is Division 5.2 of the Public Service Regulations 1999.
[2]The information contained in this brochure also applies to ongoing Parliamentary Service employees who have applied for an advertised APS job at a higher classification.
[3]The office of the Merit Protection Commissioner is established under section 49 of the Public Service Act 1999.
[4] See clause 2.31 of the Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 2013.