There’s been a surge in applications for promotion reviews in the APS, with a number of decisions involving AI and automated technology overturned.

The findings are contained in the annual report of the APS Merit Protection Commissioner released on Tuesday.

The MPC was established in 1999 to ensure the APS has fair employment and promotion systems and that public servants aren’t the victims of wrong or unfair actions or decisions.

Its annual report shows there were 866 applications for a review of a promotion decision, a fifty per cent increase from 2020-21. Contributing to this was a bungled recruitment drive outsourced to a recruitment company by Services Australia, that saw 11 decisions overturned.

‘Unintentional issues’ with AI

The report uncovered “unintentional issues” with AI and automated selection technologies used in a large-scale recruitment for senior positions at Services Australia, Ms Waugh said.

The report reveals how in December 2020 Services Australia advertised a range of APS level 5 and 6 roles, receiving about 18,000 applications. In late 2021, 747 APS employees were promoted.

The MPC subsequently received 279 applications for review, and overturned 11.

The selection process was not always meeting its key objective, which put simply, was to identify and select the most meritorious candidates for the roles advertised.

Merit Protection Commission

Investigations by the MPC revealed that the recruitment process, which was handled by an external firm, used AI–assisted and automated selection techniques and included psychometric testing, questionnaires and self-recorded video responses. There was no selection panel.

“The increased number of overturns indicated that the selection process was not always meeting its key objective, which put simply, was to identify and select the most meritorious candidates for the roles advertised,” the report said.

Ms Waugh said while APS agencies are trying to embrace innovative recruitment practices, they also needed to understand the risks.

“As a result the MPC sponsored an APS graduate project to design guidance for APS agencies to use AI and automated technologies selection assessment tools that follow the merit principle.”

Positive impact

Ms Waugh said the results of the report demonstrated the MPC was having a positive impact on the Australian Public Service and making it a fair and valuable system.

The report says the MPC also increased engagement, delivered training and information for employees and agencies and provided recruitment and employment services.

Overall, the MPC handled 996 review applications.

The top three agencies for promotion review requests were Services Australia (354), the ATO (335), Home Affairs (113) and the ABS (26).

The 130 requests for reviews of workplace decisions were down 24 per cent, something the MPC puts down to employees having other priorities during two years of Covid.

The top three agencies for workplace decision review applications were Services Australia (45), Department of Home Affairs (12) and the ATO (12).