Classifications and Section 56 of the Public Sector Management Act

Advice Statement
Advice No. 09/2009
Issued: December 2009
ACT PUBLIC SECTOR
ACTPS Classifications -­‐ Section 56 of the Public Sector Management Act
• HR Managers
• Shared Services
Purpose
1. To advise agencies of an amendment to the Public Sector Management Act 1994
(PSM Act) relating to the classification of offices and officers.
Background
2. Division 4.1A of the PSM Act outlines how a chief executive of an administrative unit
may create or abolish an office in their administrative unit. Section 55 of the PSM Act
stipulates that when creating an office, the chief executive must specify what
classification the office shall have. Under this section a chief executive must only
classify an office using an approved classification.
3. Previously, approved classifications were those prescribed under the Public Sector
Management Standards 2006 (Standards), or those declared to be approved by the
Commissioner for Public Administration (Commissioner).
4. Before the consolidation of the Standards, Standard 13 listed classifications and
salaries payable under Chapter 1, Part 0- Schedules. From June 1998, the Standards
were rationalised in number from 25 to 7 and the list of classifications in Chapter 1
was removed. Current practice is to list them in a schedule to industrial agreements
rather than in legislation. The requirement to list classifications in the Standards pre-­dates
the use of industrial agreements in the ACTPS.
What you need to know
5. The amendment to the PSM Act changing the method by which classifications
become approved classifications was passed on 19 November 2009. Approved
classifications are now those specified in an industrial agreement -­‐ for the purposes
of the ACTPS, in 2009 this means Annex A Classifications and Rates of Pay, or into
the future, the equivalent section within Agency Collective Agreements or their
replacement agreements.
6. Where an agency wishes to create an office having a classification that does not
appear in their industrial agreement, the relevant chief executive is required to
Chief Minister and Treasury | Canberra Nara Centre
GPO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2601 | phone: 132281 | www.act.gov.au

consult with the Commissioner and seek agreement to declare the classification to
be an approved classification in accordance with s 56(b) before an office can be
created using the new classification.
7. The Commissioner will maintain a list of approved classifications and in future this
will be used as the basis for the list that appears in industrial agreements as they are
negotiated.
8. In order for the list of approved classifications to remain current, where an agency
no longer uses a classification or recognises it is otherwise redundant, the relevant
chief executive should bring the matter to the Commissioner's attention.
9. Where agencies require further advice, they should contact the Senior Manager,
Employment Policy on ph. (02) 6207 5995.
Approval Authority
Cathy Hudson
Commissioner for Public Administration
Document Name: ACTPS Classifications -­‐ Section 56 of the Public Sector Management Act
Prepared by: Senior Manager, Employment Policy, Public Sector Management
Version: Number 1
Feedback to: psm@act.gov.au
Issue Date: December 2009