What Does the Public Services Commission Do?

If you work in the National Public Service and believe a personnel decision was wrong, the Public Services Commission is the body the Constitution gives you.

Section 190 — how it is constituted

The Commission consists of three members, appointed for a term of five years by the Head of State, acting with and in accordance with the advice of a Public Services Commission Appointments Committee consisting of:

• the Prime Minister, as Chairman;
• the Chief Justice;
• the Leader of the Opposition;
• the Chairman of the appropriate Permanent Parliamentary Committee — or, where that Chairman is a member recognised as generally committed to supporting the Government, the Deputy Chairman of that Committee; and
• the Chief Ombudsman.

Section 190(2A) provides for the Head of State, on the Committee’s advice, to appoint one member as Chairman of the Commission. All members must be citizens who have gained substantial experience in the National Public Service.

Section 191 — the two functions

1. (1)(a) the review of personnel matters connected with the National Public Service; and
2. (1)(b) the continuous review of the State Services — other than the Defence Force — and the services of other governmental bodies, and to advise the National Executive Council and any responsible authority on organizational matters, on its own initiative or on request.

Section 192 confines the independence guarantee to the first: the Public Services Commission is not subject to direction or control when carrying out its function under section 191(1)(a).

What personnel review means for you

The section 191(1)(a) function is exercised in accordance with an Act of the Parliament — principally the Public Services (Management) Act 1995, which sets out what decisions may be reviewed, who may apply, the time limits, and the effect of the Commission’s decision.

Typical subject matter includes appointments and promotions, transfers and redeployment, disciplinary decisions, and terminations. Because the time limits are set by statute and are short, the practical rule is simple:

1. Get the decision in writing, with reasons and the date.
2. Check the time limit in the current Act immediately.
3. Lodge in time, and keep proof of lodgement.
4. Set out the facts and the ground — what was decided, by whom, and why it was wrong.

A decision of the Commission is itself amenable to judicial review in the National Court under section 155(3), and the principles of natural justice in sections 59 and 60 apply to its processes.

Section 191(4) — the annual report

The Commission shall, for each year, prepare and forward to the Speaker for presentation to the Parliament a report on the advice it has given during the year under section 191(1)(b) — indicating in particular the nature of the advice given and whether or not that advice was accepted.

That final clause is unusual and valuable. Parliament is told not only what the Commission recommended but whether the Executive took it. It is a ready source of material for parliamentary committees.

How it relates to other bodies

• The Ombudsman Commission deals with defective administration and with the Leadership Code. The Public Services Commission deals with personnel matters in the Public Service. The Chief Ombudsman sits on the Appointments Committee, linking the two.
• Section 193 governs appointments to departmental head and equivalent offices, requiring merit based selection for substantive appointments.
• Departmental heads are leaders under section 26 and answerable under the Leadership Code.