The Rules centre on a few recurring legal and administrative constructs. Each concept is defined and then operationalised through procedures and thresholds.
Relevant person (rule 7): used as the working population for most Part 2 provisions; it means a person employed, or to be employed, as a NSW Police Force senior executive or a non‑executive administrative employee. The Rules therefore separate “senior executives” and “non‑executive administrative employees” from police officers in the ordinary sense, while including police officers employed as NSW Police Force senior executives (see definitions at rule 3).
Merit and capability (Part 2, especially rule 8): the Rules adopt merit as the central selection principle. Merit is operationalised as an assessment of capabilities, experience and knowledge against pre‑established standards for roles (rule 8(2)). The Rules require assessments to be capability‑based (defined in rule 3) and set minimum assessment elements. The merit principle governs recruitment, conversion to ongoing employment, transfers from other government agencies and similar decisions (rule 8(1)).
Comparative assessment and suitability assessment (rules 5-6): two distinct assessment types are defined. Comparative assessment is person‑to‑role and person‑to‑person (rule 5(1)), and must include screening for essential requirements, application and resume review, referee checks and at least three capability‑based assessments including an interview (rule 5(2)(a)-(d)). Suitability assessment is a person‑to‑role assessment that does not compare applicants against each other; it requires screening, resume review, at least two capability‑based assessments including an interview, and referee checks against role standards (rule 6(2)(a)-(d)). Comparative assessment requires more assessments and multiple assessors (rule 5(3)).
External advertising (rule 3 definition and referenced in rules 10 and 11): comparative assessments for ongoing roles must generally follow external advertising on the NSW Government jobs website (rule 10(1)). External advertising is defined broadly as advertising on the NSW Government jobs site and may include other public forms (rule 3).
Talent pools (rule 9): a list of persons who have satisfied pre‑established standards by comparative assessment. Talent pools are valid for up to 12 months from completion of the assessment and may be used for ongoing, temporary or term recruitment.
Time‑limited temporary employment (rule 12): non‑executive administrative employees have a maximum aggregate temporary employment period of 4 years within any continuous 5‑year period, with prescribed paths to extend through comparative assessment and advertising (rule 12(1)-(4)). The Commissioner may determine classes of exceptions after consulting the Public Service Commissioner (rule 12(5)).
Model contracts (rule 18 and Schedules 1-3): Schedules prescribe model contracts of employment for the Commissioner (Schedule 1) and senior executives (Schedules 2 and 3). The model contract provisions are mandatory (rule 18(4)(a)), subject to the Police Act, GSE Act and applicable regulations (rule 18(4)(b)). Changes to Schedules do not apply retrospectively to contracts already entered (rule 18(5)).
Managerial discretion and exception powers: the Commissioner is given explicit powers to dispense with Parts of the Rules on operational grounds (rule 17), to make determinations about excess employees (rule 38), to attach role‑specific conditions (rule 22(2)), to approve part‑time work (rule 24) and to exempt or extend temporary employment periods (rules 11(4), 12(4)-(5)). There are also prescribed review rights for employees in employer‑initiated transfers or secondments (rule 43).
Misconduct and performance frameworks (Parts 6 and 8): the Rules provide a two‑track approach,disciplinary procedures under Part 6 and performance management under Part 8. The misconduct track sets out initial assessment, inquiries without formal hearings, findings and record‑keeping (rules 44-47). The performance framework requires performance agreements for executives and procedural safeguards before action for unsatisfactory performance in administrative employees (rules 50-52; rule 51 sets out the preconditions for action under s 68(2) of the GSE Act).
Workforce diversity (rule 48): the Rules set out specific categories of “eligible persons” (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, people with disability, under‑25s, recent humanitarian entrants under a specific visa condition and groups designated by the Public Service Commissioner) and permit the Commissioner to employ eligible persons as non‑executive administrative employees using modified processes where necessary (rule 48(1)-(6)).
Interplay with the General Rules (Schedule 4): Schedule 4 inserts rule 4A into the Government Sector Employment (General) Rules 2014 to exclude the NSW Police Force (except Part 6), and it adjusts transfer/secondment application rules to carve out police employees from certain general provisions.
These concepts are expressed in procedural detail. For example, comparative assessments require multiple assessors and enumerated assessment elements (rule 5); suitability assessments are narrower but still prescriptive (rule 6). The Rules therefore translate abstract merit and suitability concepts into enumerated administrative steps and time limits.