• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Application and scope
• Section 3 - Principles
• Section 4 - Recruitment Process – Fixed Term and Continuing Roles
• Identify vacancy
• Develop Position Description
• Determine Recruitment Process
• Competitive Recruitment
• Direct appointment
• Internal Secondment – Professional Staff
• Approval to Recruit
• Advertising
• Section 5 - Selection Committee Process
• Selection Committee
• Longlisting
• Shortlisting
• Interviewing
• Reference Checks
• Selection
• Section 6 - Appointment and Onboarding
• Offer of Employment
• Relocation
• Onboarding
• Section 7 - Casual Recruitment
• Section 8 - Record keeping 
• Section 9 - Roles and Responsibilities
• Section 10 - Definitions
• Section 11 - Appendix 1 – Selection Panel Composition

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Procedure sets out the requirements for recruitment, selection, and appointment of fixed term and continuing professional and academic staff at the University of Wollongong (the University).

Section 2 - Application and scope

(2) This Procedure applies to:

1. the recruitment of fixed term, continuing and casual staff at the University’s Australian campuses;
2. applicants for these positions; and
3. staff involved in recruitment to these positions.

(3) This Procedure does not apply to recruitment of:

1. contractors or agency staff;
2. staff of other entities controlled by the University; and
3. staff at campuses of the University outside Australia.

(4) This Procedure supports and should be read in conjunction with the Employment Life Cycle Policy.

Section 3 - Principles

(5) This Procedure establishes the structure to ensure that, all recruitment activity:

1. aligns with the University’s strategic goals including its equity and diversity targets;
2. follows a fair and merit-based approach to recruitment, assessment and selection, that uses evidence-based and inclusive hiring and decision-making principles, to eliminate bias;
3. complies with relevant legislative frameworks;
4. appropriately manages actual or perceived conflicts of interest in recruitment and selection decision-making; and
5. is transparent and balanced against the need for confidentiality.

Section 4 - Recruitment Process – Fixed Term and Continuing Roles

Identify vacancy

(6) Positions are established and/or continued based on the University’s:

1. strategic directions;
2. current and future workforce requirements; and
3. available current and future financial resources.

(7) The type of appointment to fill a vacancy will be decided based on the nature of the work and the relevant provisions within the Fair Work Act and relevant enterprise agreement.

Develop Position Description

(8) The hiring manager, with the assistance of the People and Culture Division, will develop or update the position description, to accurately reflect the requirements of the position, which must be consistent with:

1. academic positions - the position classification standards for the level of the role; or
2. professional positions - the work level descriptors for the level of the role.

(9) Selection criteria in the position description should outline the following:

1. critical skills;
2. knowledge;
3. qualifications;
4. experience; and
5. behavioural attributes required for competent performance in the job.

(10) A position description should include a maximum of eight selection criteria.

(11) The position description will include (but not limited to) any special conditions of the role such as: 

1. Working with Children Check requirements; 
2. pre-employment medical; 
3. background screening;
4. requirement to work outside the normal span of hours;
5. requirement to work on campus; or
6. participation in on-call roster. 

Determine Recruitment Process

(12) The hiring manager, with advice from the People and Culture Division, will decide the appropriate recruitment process to fill a fixed term or continuing vacancy.

(13) Vacant positions may be filled via the following processes:

1. competitive recruitment;
2. direct appointment; or
3. internal secondment.

(14) Recruitment processes include:

1. internal only advertising (continuing position);
2. internal only advertising (fixed term position, e.g., secondment);
3. internal and external advertising (fixed term or continuing position); or
4. direct appointment (without advertising).

Competitive Recruitment

(15) Competitive recruitment is the University’s preferred process for filling vacancies, as a robust merit-based method.

Direct appointment

(16) The direct appointment process allows a vacant position to be filled by a candidate who has not gone through the competitive recruitment process.

(17)  Direct appointments are limited and will only be considered in the following circumstances:

1. where the employment of the candidate is a condition of a research grant or other funding agreement (and the candidate is specifically named in the grant / funding agreement);
2. any reason contained within the Delegations of Authority Policy;
3. where the position requires specialist functional or technical skills, where it is highly unlikely there is an internal or external pool of candidates;
4. where employment of the candidate is considered to be of strategic importance to the University;
5. the position is identified for disadvantaged equal employment opportunity groups; or
6. other circumstances that the Chief People and Culture Officer or authorised delegate decides is appropriate for direct appointment.

(18) Direct appointment will not normally be used for a contract term longer than 12 months.

Internal Secondment – Professional Staff

(19) An internal secondment applies when an existing continuing or fixed term staff member fills a vacancy for a University professional services position with the right to return to their substantive position.

(20) Approval to release or not to release a staff member must be made in accordance with the Delegations of Authority Policy. Approval should not be unreasonably withheld.

(21) The internal secondment must have a specified start and end date and be at the same or higher salary level than the staff member's substantive position.

(22) As far as practicable, internal secondment opportunities should be advertised internally to seek applications from continuing and fixed term professional staff across the University.

(23) A direct appointment may be considered where:

1. the duration of the appointment is short term (up to 12 months);
2. the position requires specialised skills; or
3. it is a requirement of a research grant.

Approval to Recruit

(24) The hiring manager will seek approval to recruit by:

1. for replacement of continuing positions, where there are no changes to the role or employment details, creating a job requisition; or
2. for new, updated, or fixed term positions, submitting a workforce establishment form.

(25) Approvals will be obtained in accordance with the Delegations of Authority Policy.

(26) Once a job requisition is approved, the People and Culture Division will:

1. for positions to be filled by competitive recruitment, advertise the position; or
2. for direct appointments, make an offer of employment.

Advertising

(27) Once a job requisition is approved, Talent Acquisition will review the job advertisement and arrange for internal and/or external advertising in consultation with the hiring manager.

(28) Talent Acquisition will work with the hiring manager and/or the selection committee Chair to determine the appropriate advertising strategy.

(29) The Chair should notify Talent Acquisition prior to advertising if visa sponsorship may be required.

(30) Talent Acquisition will provide advice on suitable visa types and visa processes.

(31) The advertising strategy will be designed to attract a diverse field of applicants.

(32) The following factors should be considered when determining and appropriate advertising strategy:

1. broad reach to attract a viable pool of high quality candidates;
2. value for money and anticipated return on investment;
3. consistency with the University’s marketing, brand and social media strategies, policies, guidelines and similar;
4. employment equity and diversity considerations and targets; and
5. compliance with relevant legislation and best practice.

(33) The advertising strategy should include at least two different advertising platforms sourcing methods, including advertising the vacancy on the University of Wollongong job vacancies website.

(34) All positions will be advertised internally only, or internally and externally for at least seven working days. Where the University may sponsor an international candidate for a position, the position must be advertised for 28 days in appropriate sources to meet Labour Market Testing requirements.

(35) Any costs for advertising will be met by the Faculty or Division.

Section 5 - Selection Committee Process

Selection Committee

(36) Selection committees must fairly and equitably assess the merits of each applicant and recommend the best candidate for appointment.

(37) Selection committees will:

1. be convened in accordance with Appendix 1 – Selection Committee Composition;
2. have a balance of genders and, as far as practicable, a diversity of gender identities;
3. strive for a broad representation of staff from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds;
4. be led by a selection committee chair who is the senior executive member (or their nominee) of the faculty or portfolio the vacancy exists in; and
5. complete selection committee training in Unified.

(38) The selection committee chair (the Chair) is responsible for:

1. managing any declared conflicts of interests in accordance with the Conflict of Interest Policy;
2. deciding on the appropriate selection process, in consultation with Talent Acquisition. This will include an application and interview, and may also include other assessment activities, such as pre-screening interviews via phone or online, a presentation or demonstration, provision of work samples; and
3. conduct or delegate reference checks to an appropriate selection committee member.

(39) Selection committees must be approved in accordance with the Delegations of Authority Policy.

(40) Selection committees are normally comprised of the officers as set out in Appendix 1.

(41) Selection committee members will:

1. declare any conflicts of interest in accordance with the Conflict of Interest Policy prior to shortlisting decisions;
2. base selection decisions and deliberations on applicants’ merit and against the selection criteria for the role; and
3. keep all deliberations and any documentation (including resumes and interview notes) confidential, store documents securely during the process and destroy all application materials not required to be kept securely after the selection process is complete.

(42) All documents from the recruitment process, including written notes of selection committee members, may be subject to a Freedom of Information application.

(43) Where required, a representative from the People and Culture Division may participate in a selection committee as a member or observer for equal employment opportunity purposes.

(44) The Chair, with the support from Talent Acquisition, may decide to longlist applications before shortlisting is undertaken by the selection committee.

Longlisting

(45) Longlisting assists with eliminating applicants who, based on their written application, do not meet the selection criteria or requirements for the position.

(46) Longlisting may be conducted by one or more members of the selection committee or Talent Acquisition.

Shortlisting

(47) Shortlisting is completed by the Selection Committee. The Committee assess applications against the selection criteria to determine which candidates will continue to interview and other assessments.

(48) The Selection Committee should consider the University’s commitment to Indigenous employment, equity, diversity and inclusion when assessing applicants and prioritise applicants from these groups who meet the selection criteria.

(49) On completion of shortlisting, and within five working days of the proposed interview date, the Chair will advise Talent Acquisition of the shortlist and interview details, including any additional assessment activities.

(50) Talent Acquisition will contact the shortlisted candidates to arrange interviews and will notify external applicants who were not shortlisted that they have been unsuccessful. The Chair will contact internal applicants to advise them if they have been unsuccessful and offer them the opportunity to be provided feedback on request.

(51) If an applicant who identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is shortlisted for interview, the Chair will notify the Aboriginal Employment Strategy Team. This allows for tailored advice and support to be provided to the applicant and ensures the interview process is culturally safe for them.

(52) When an applicant identifies as needing a reasonable adjustment is shortlisted for interview, the Chair will discuss the reasonable adjustment request with the Talent Acquisition. The reasonable adjustment request will be accommodated unless prevented by genuine business grounds, such as increased costs for the University or impact to timeliness of the selection process. Accommodating reasonable adjustments allows for support to be provided and enables the interview to be conducted on an equitable basis.

Interviewing

(53) The Chair, in consultation with the selection committee and Talent Acquisition, will write interview questions before the interview. The interview questions must relate directly to the selection criteria.

(54) Candidates will be asked the same core interview questions to provide a consistent basis for comparison.

(55) Additional selection methods, such as job specific assessment tasks, may be used. Candidates should be provided advice of any additional selection tasks in advance to allow time to prepare.

(56) During the interview, the Chair should confirm with candidates any qualification or licence required for the position, Australian work rights and/or referees.

(57) Following the interview and any additional assessment activities, the selection committee will evaluate the candidates and rank them applying consistent criteria.

(58) Ideally, the decision of the selection committee will be unanimous.

(59) Where there is disagreement, the ultimate decision will rest with the Chair as the person with the delegated authority.

(60) The final selection report will state whether the decision was unanimous or made by a majority and, if by majority, note the selection committee member(s) who disagreed.

Reference Checks

(61) Reference checks must be done before the final selection decision by the Chair.

(62) Reference checks will be completed by a member of the selection committee.

(63) The minimum number of reference checks is:

1. two for an external candidate; and
2. one for an internal candidate.

(64) Candidates should provide referees who have observed their performance in relevant work, preferably in the past three years.

(65) The candidate’s current direct Supervisor should be a referee. If the candidate does not wish to provide their current direct Supervisor, the Chair should discuss the reasons with the candidate. If the Chair approves for a candidate to provide alternate referees, the alternative referees should have directly supervised their work recently. 

(66) A member of the selection committee cannot be a referee for the candidate.

(67) Internal candidates, or prior UOW staff who have left the University within the last three years, should provide their most recent University manager as a referee.

(68) If a selection committee considers that a candidate's referees are not able to comment knowledgeably about the candidate’s performance or differing performance information is provided, the Chair may ask the candidate to provide additional referees. 

(69) Referees who have been nominated by the candidate may be contacted. If the selection committee would like to request a reference from another person, the candidate must provide consent before the person is contacted.

(70) The Reference Check Form must be used to record references provided.

(71) Reference questions must be related to the selection criteria or be used to validate information provided during the interview.

(72) The same core set of questions should be asked of each referee to provide a consistent basis for comparison.

Selection

(73) At the conclusion of the selection process, the Chair will complete the final selection report and send to Talent Acquisition.

(74) Talent Acquisition will:

1. contact the preferred candidate to make an offer of employment; and
2. notify unsuccessful candidates promptly.

(75) The final selection report should identify all candidates considered appointable for the role.

(76) If a vacancy for the same or similar role occurs within six months, a candidate identified as appointable on the final selection report, may be offered the role without a further selection process.

(77) The candidate will be considered to have been appointed through a competitive selection process.

(78)  The University is not obligated to appoint from the final selection report; a further recruitment process may be conducted.

Section 6 - Appointment and Onboarding

Offer of Employment

(79) Talent Acquisition will contact the preferred candidate to make a formal offer of employment.

(80) Under no circumstances can a candidate commence work until the employment contract is processed by Talent Acquisition.

(81) Candidate’s who will be employed under an enterprise agreement, will normally be offered a salary at step 1 of the applicable level, or, for an internal candidate, the first step within the level at which the salary is higher than their current salary. 

(82) A candidate may negotiate and/or be offered a higher step within the level of a position to which they are appointed, where there are circumstances that justify this, such as the candidate’s current salary, qualifications, or experience. 

(83) All staff members must hold work rights to be employed in Australia.

(84) The University may sponsor overseas applicants, typically in academic roles, as per compliance with the Department of Home Affairs visa requirements. Typically, sponsorship will align to the length of appointment.

(85) Talent Acquisition will manage the visa sponsorship process.

(86) The business unit will bear all costs associated with sponsorship, noting that the candidate may need to contribute to the appropriate visa costs.

Relocation

(87) Relocation assistance may be offered to candidates who are located interstate or overseas to help them relocate to begin employment with the University.

(88) Relocation assistance must be approved in accordance with the Delegations of Authority Policy and is not a universal entitlement.

(89) Relocation assistance will be funded by the Faculty or Division.

(90) Information regarding relocation assistance, is provided in the Relocation and Immigration Procedure.

Onboarding

(91) On acceptance of the offer of employment, Talent Acquisition will send the candidate instructions for the onboarding process.

(92) This will include instructions on providing any documents necessary to undertake employment, such as Working with Children Checks, proof of work rights, qualifications, etc.

(93) The Supervisor will be notified when the candidate has accepted the job offer and will receive a link to instructions for the supervisor’s onboarding tasks.

(94) The Supervisor should contact the new staff member to provide information regarding first day instructions.

(95) The candidate will be asked for information on any reasonable adjustments they will require in the workplace and provided the relevant materials to progress this request. Requests for reasonable adjustments should be managed in accordance with the Reasonable Adjustments in the Workplace Procedure.

Section 7 - Casual Recruitment

(96) The use of casual appointments should be used only to undertake work that is irregular, intermittent, ad-hoc or for a short duration.

(97) Recruitment and selection of casual staff should ideally adhere to the principles of merit based selection, particularly in reference to determining suitability for the vacancy by considering and verifying the applicant’s skills, experience and qualifications.

(98) Approvals for casual appointments will be in accordance with the Delegations of Authority Policy.

Section 8 - Record keeping 

(99) Documents in relation to recruitment and selection activities must be managed in accordance with the Records Management Policy, Privacy Policy and relevant legislation.

Section 9 - Roles and Responsibilities

(100) The People and Culture Division:

1. provide professional advice and support for all recruitment and selection activities;
2. coordinate recruitment and selection activities for continuing and fixed term appointments via competitive recruitment and direct appointment processes;
3. partner with Faculties and Divisions to employ effective sourcing, selection and candidate care strategies;
4. provide advice on relevant policies and legislation and issue all letters of offer.
5. oversee and process casual appointments, provide professional advice and support to Faculties/Divisions and staff members throughout the secondment process.

(101) Faculties/Divisions:

1. consult with the People and Culture Division regarding all vacancies in the first instance. Partner with the People and Culture Division to employ effective sourcing, selection, and candidate care strategies.

Section 10 - Definitions

Section 11 - Appendix 1 – Selection Panel Composition

(102) Senior Executive Position

(103) Academic Position

(104) Professional Services Staff Positions