Recruiting Staff

Recruiting the right people is key to establishing a well-functioning office. It is important to have a sound understanding of the tasks, skills, capabilities, qualifications, and experience required for each position.  A position description should be available for potential employees to review prior to advertising a role.

A position description should include the following information:

• Role description
• Duties and responsibilities
• Required qualifications, skills and experience
• Salary and employment type
• Additional allowances which may apply to the role
• Work base and travel requirements
• Expectations regarding performance, attendance, and behaviour

The position description guidance can then be used as a tool for managing and supporting the ongoing performance of your staff.

HR Advice can arrange placement of online ads for ongoing vacant positions and can make payment directly to the supplier on behalf of parliamentarians without debit to your office budget. You may place up to three ads for each vacant Electorate Officer position and up to four ads for each vacant Personal Employee position. Please contact HR Advice to advertise for ongoing roles. 

Online advertisements for casual or non-ongoing positions should be organised by the office and claimed as an office expense (it must meet the requirements specified in the Parliamentary Business Resources Regulations 2017). The Non-ongoing/casual job advertisement template and Staff Role Descriptions may help in developing content, and HR Advice can also assist.

Vacant positions can be advertised through online recruitment advertisements, print media advertisements, internal networks or, at your personal cost, through private employment agencies (refer below for details). Advertisement templates are available under related resources.

Advertisements for vacant roles should include details about:

• Short summary of the position description
• Work base and travel requirements
• Duties and responsibilities,
• Selection criteria (Required skills, experiences, qualifications)
• Salary range and additional allowances
• Applicable probation period, 
• Security clearance and police check requirements
• Information required within the application (e.g. a CV, reference details, a one-page pitch around applicant’s skills and experience, examples of previous work, etc.).
• Application deadline (e.g. minimum 2 week period from date of posting)
• Contact officer information
• Any other additional incentives or promotion of the role

Candidate selection

Applications for a position should be assessed on their merit against the skills and qualifications outlined in the position description. It is recommended that shortlisted candidates are interviewed to determine their suitability against the position and within the team.

The following information may also be useful in informing recruitment decisions:

• Whether they possess the necessary working rights in Australia
• Whether there may be potential conflicts of interest
• Follow up on any concerns or allegations raised in referee reports
• Whether the candidate demonstrates attributes that suggest they’re a good fit for the team   

The following information should not be requested:

• Information about protected attributes (e.g. age, gender, racial background, political opinion, etc.)
• Factors that may not be relevant for the role (e.g. physical capabilities, financial situation, etc.)

It is good practice to apply a merit based and procedurally fair approach to the recruitment and selection process. Documenting the recruitment process and decisions is strongly advised.  

Once a successful candidate is identified and an offer of employment has been accepted, an employment agreement must be finalised and signed before the person commences in their new role.

For assistance with recruitment, developing position descriptions and advertising vacancies, please contact HR Advice at 1800 747 977 option 2 or email to hr@pwss.gov.au

Private employment agencies

Parliamentarians who wish to use the services of an employment agency to fill a vacant position must meet the cost of these services personally, as they are not covered by the Commonwealth.

Travel for interviews

Candidates attending an interview for a personal employee position may have their associated travel costs reimbursed.

Responsibilities

Parliamentarians and Chiefs of Staff

Employing Parliamentarians and Chiefs of Staff should consider alternatives to conducting in‑person interviews such as phone or video technology such as Skype or GovTEAMS. Where an in-person interview is required, employing Parliamentarians and Chiefs of Staff are required to confirm interview details (date, time, location) with the prospective candidate for the purposes of making travel arrangements.

Candidates

Prospective candidates required to attend in-person interviews for a personal employee position must:

• Make all travel arrangements in accordance with interview details provided
• Provide receipts when seeking reimbursement of travel costs

Positions eligible for reimbursement

Travel expenses are reimbursed only for travel to and from an interview for a personal employee position in the office of the following office-holders:

The Commonwealth will meet the cost of economy class travel for any candidate to attend an interview for a vacant position as a personal employee of:

• a Minister
• an Assistant Minister
• the Leader or Deputy Leader of the Opposition
• the Leader or Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
• the Leader of a Minority Party.

The reimbursement of travel costs is not available to candidates who are employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 (MOP(S) Act).

Costs covered

The Commonwealth will reimburse the following costs of travel between an applicant’s home (or another location as agreed in writing with Ministerial and Parliamentary Services (MaPS) prior to the travel) and the interview location:

• Economy-class flights for the most direct route. The applicant must select the lowest practical fare that suits the business needs of the applicant.
• Transfer costs between terminals
• Ground transport including taxi/rideshare, ferry, bus and rail services; and
• Rental car and rental car fuel costs where there are no reasonable alternative options.

Where an applicant travels using frequent flyer points, MaPS will not reimburse the applicant.

Accommodation and meal allowances will not be paid for or be reimbursed.

Administration

Queries about travel should be directed to the MaPS Helpdesk. Complete the Reimbursement of travel costs to attend interview for personal staff position and submit it to MaPS to apply for reimbursement.

Employing family members

Parliamentarians cannot employ immediate family under the MOP(S) Act. This includes:

• spouses
• de facto partners
• children
• parents
• siblings
• children of their spouse or de facto partner
• their child’s spouse or de facto partner
• their sibling’s spouse or de facto partner.

If a parliamentarian enters an employment arrangement with immediate family, the employment will not be employment under the MOP(S) Act and will not be governed by the MOP(S) Act. 

Parliamentarians are permitted to employ the family members of other parliamentarians as determined in Determination 2013/12 - Determination of condition on exercise of power of Officeholders, Senators, and Members of the House of Representatives. 

Guidance on employment and management

A guidance on hiring new employees, published by the Fair Work Ombudsman. This material is general in nature, and refers to some employer responsibilities, such as the administration of salaries, superannuation and taxation, that are undertaken by the Department of Finance on behalf of parliamentarians. For specific advice MOP(S) Act employees and parliamentarians should contact the HR Advice 1800 747 977 (option 2) or email us to hr@pwss.gov.au.

The Fair Work Ombudsman online training has a suite of online training materials available to encourage good employment practices. 

The online learning courses take around 20 - 30 minutes to complete. The topics covered are changing from time to time and covers topics such as hiring employees, starting a new job, difficult conversations in the workplace and managing performance.

National police checks

If requested to do so, new ongoing and non-ongoing MOP(S) Act employees need to complete the National Police History Check (NPHC) before commencing employment. 

NPHC results are only valid at the date the results are released. If an employee changes office, the new employer may request a new check.

Each police check will return either:

• No Disclosable Court Outcomes (NDCO), where there is no disclosable police history information held by any police agencies
• Disclosable Court Outcome/s (DCO), where there is police history information returned by one or more police agencies that may pertain to the employee.

A parliamentarian and the relevant staff member will only be notified if there's a DCO. Parliamentarians should ensure that NPHC results are stored in a locked cabinet