According to the latest Merit Protection Commissioner’s (MPC) annual report, a number of recruitment decisions were overturned because of newly designed APS selection processes that relied on automated technologies and AI.
Commissioner Linda Waugh said her office discovered the Review of Actions scheme was able to detect unintentional issues with the application of the merit principle.
“This often applied in newly designed selection processes that involved artificial intelligence (AI) and automated technologies. This led to a number of recruitment decisions being overturned by the MPC,” Waugh said.
In response to the anomaly, the MPC decided to sponsor an APSC graduate project to design guidance for agencies to use AI and automated technologies selection assessment tools that follow the merit principle. Outcomes from the project will be reported on in the 2022-23 annual report.
“Operating in an increasingly tight and competitive labour market, APS agencies are looking to explore and embrace innovative recruitment practices that are more efficient and effective than traditional recruitment approaches,” the commissioner said.
“However, agencies must understand the risks involved — particularly to the merit principle — in these new approaches. Our office wants to ensure there are resources available to help agencies manage these risks.”
The MPC’s mandate, as set out in Section 33 of the Public Service Act 1999, aims to ensure merit, integrity, accountability and transparency in all APS promotion and recruitment processes.
Waugh, who will start a new role as Queensland’s next integrity commissioner in December, said the performance of her independent statutory agency was delivering a “valuable and fair” promotions process for the public service.
The agency’s core functions are to ensure no public servant is subject to an unfair or wrong action or decision, and that the APS is a career-based organisation that makes fair employment and promotion decisions.
“Merit should not only be viewed as applying to recruitment. It should be the underpinning basis of all government decision-making, including decisions relating to our most valuable asset: our APS employees,” Waugh said.
“One particular challenge during my term has been to persuade APS agencies of the value of the Review of Actions scheme and its potential to contribute to strong institutional integrity and positive organisational culture.
“This challenge has been a central focus of our work over the past 18 months,” she said.
Australian Public Service and Parliamentary Service employees should know their rights to seek independent review of promotion decisions they missed out on. Register now for the Merit Protection Commissioner’s free webinars to find out more: https://t.co/3m4RTCd9ZC pic.twitter.com/uWUkE4EZ9c
— APS Commission (@APS_Commission) September 5, 2022
Review requests to the MPC in 2021-22 grew by more than 200 new applications, with 996 matters (including promotion and workplace decisions) compared to 746 last year.
According to the commissioner, this change was driven by applications for reviews of promotion decisions, which increased by 50% from last year.
“Comparatively, applications for reviews of workplace decisions decreased by 24%. In total we conducted 323 merits reviews and met our timeliness targets,” she said.
Hundreds of public servants applied to have promotion decisions (for roles up to APS6 level) reviewed in the last financial year in cases where another public servant was given the role, with 83% of review matters decided within a suitable time frame.
Of the 576 promotion decisions taken up for review in 2021-22, about 460 decisions were assessed within ideal timeframes.
The MPC overturned 12 promotion decisions, 11 of which were made in a single large-scale, “bulk” recruitment action run by a third-party provider.
The online recruitment process used artificial intelligence-assisted (AI-assisted) and automated selection techniques and included psychometric testing, questionnaires and self-recorded video responses.
“This type of review was designed to assure staff and senior leaders that merit forms the basis of APS promotions, and to prevent nepotism and cronyism,” Waugh said.
“In 2021–22, Promotion Review Committees (PRCs) overturned 4.46% of promotion decisions reviewed. This was significantly higher than the 0.66% in the preceding year.”
Meanwhile, requests for the MPC to review workplace decisions declined last financial year with 177 applications compared to 2019-20’s 195 applications.
The commissioner said a corresponding decline in workplace decisions being set aside from 30% to 20% was due to secondary reviews of actions, where the set-aside/vary rate dropped from 32% to 10% this year.
“While the number of applications for these types of reviews have fluctuated over the past 10 years, they dropped since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Waugh said.
“The reduction in the number of decisions for secondary reviews that were set aside or varied shows that agency and MPC reviews of the same action or decision are increasingly reaching the same conclusion.
“This indicates either a potential improvement in agency review capability or that this reduction may be caused by the type of issue under review.”
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