People employed in the ACT Public Service must meet a number of prerequisites to be permanently employed.

Citizenship

The minimum citizenship requirements are:

• permanent employees must either be an Australian citizen, or have permanent resident status in Australia. Occasionally a position will be notified as a restricted position. In this case the position will be restricted to permanent officers of the ACT Public Service or a member of certain eligibility groups (refer to the ACTPS Gazette).
• temporary employees must either be an Australian citizen, or have permanent resident status in Australia, or have a "working visa" valid at least for the duration of their temporary employment.

(Please note that the ACT Public Sector Management Standards provide that a New Zealand citizen who resides in Australia and holds a Special Category temporary residence visa (SCV) under the Commonwealth Migration Act 1958 is to be treated as a permanent resident of Australia for the purpose of assessing that person's eligibility to be employed by the ACTPS. This means that applicants who hold a SCV will qualify under section 68 of the PSM Act for appointment to the ACT Public Service. Recognition of a SCV holder as a permanent resident only relates to the appointment of persons under the PSM Act, and does not affect a person's residency status in relation to any other federal, state or territory law.)

Formal qualifications

Formal qualifications are mandatory for some positions and are specified in the selection documentation where applicable. An original or certified copy of your qualifications must be sighted prior to the confirmation of permanent employment.

Redundancy

Applicants who have received a voluntary redundancy package from the ACT Public Service will be ineligible to apply for a position until two years after the date employment ended. Applicants who were made involuntarily redundant from the ACTPS will be ineligible for appointment for one year.

Security and character clearance

Employees need to be of good character. Police records checks are undertaken for all new employees.

Health clearances

All new employees are required to meet the health and physical fitness standard appropriate to the duties of the position. Employees appointed permanently, (with the exception of Commonwealth employees accepting a deemed transfer or deemed promotion to the position), or employed on a fixed term basis to the ACTPS must undergo a medical examination.  A doctor at the Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre conducts the medical examination.

Probation

All new permanent employees who are not already permanent employees within the ACT Public Service or the Commonwealth Public Service are required to serve a minimum period of three months probation. The probationary period enables a manager to assess a person's suitability for employment in regard to conduct and work performance, while at the same time allowing new employees an opportunity to decide whether the Authority is right for them.