Context

Mobility context

The Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (GSE Act) and the Government Sector Employment Rules (General) 2014 (GSE Rules) include a range of mobility options. These options help agencies meet workforce needs and support employees to develop their skills.

Mobility provides a way for employees to experience new areas of work, increase their knowledge and develop new capabilities, and enables new ideas to be brought into a workplace. A highly skilled and mobile workforce supports an organisation to respond quickly and effectively to changing work priorities.

A summary of the GSE mobility provisions is provided in the Appendix. 

Before an employee is seconded or transferred, the agency must make sure they meet the essential elements of the role, as set out in the role description (for example, required qualifications or licences).

When deciding how to fill a role, agencies should consider their workforce needs, including short and long‑term priorities, employee capabilities, turnover, and diversity profile of the agency. This information helps guide whether a role should be filled through mobility (see appendix 1) or through a recruitment action.

Purpose

These guidelines provide policy guidance on the application of two key mobility provisions in the GSE Act - section 64 (Employee transfers and secondments between government sector agencies) and section 66 (Secondments of staff between government sector agencies and other relevant bodies). These guidelines provide extra guidance to support the legislative provisions on transfers and secondments in the GSE Act, Regulation and Rules. Because of this, the guidelines should be read alongside those legislative provisions. Part 7 of these guidelines includes links to the relevant provisions.

Information on mobility other than under sections 64 and 66 of the GSE Act is not provided in these guidelines. The following information is available online:

• Assignment to role and temporary assignment: Assignment to Role Guidelines.
• Converting temporary and term employment to ongoing employment, and recruitment: Recruitment and Selection Guide

The guidelines are also subject to existing industrial instruments and should not be used in place of the NSW Government Workforce Mobility Placement and Employee Transition Policy, including the requirement to prioritise the placement of impacted and excess employees into suitable roles.

When would I use GSE Act sections 64 and 66?

Section 64 of the GSE Act allows both non‑executive and executive employees to move between government sector agencies. This includes movement between Public Service agencies. These movements may be time-limited (secondments) or indefinite (transfers).

Section 66 allows both non‑executive and executive employees to undertake time‑limited work outside the NSW government sector. This may involve working temporarily in another state government, the not‑for‑profit sector, the private sector, or participating in development programs. This option lets an employee gain experience in a different sector without resigning from their government employment, and is usually most suitable where the arrangement benefits both the employee and the employer or is initiated by the employer. 

Sometimes an employee may wish to work temporarily in another sector for personal reasons that are unrelated to their government role and the employer may be supportive. In these situations, a section 66 secondment may not be the best mechanism. Instead, it may be more appropriate for the employee to request leave without pay and seek secondary employment approval, depending on the circumstances.

Agencies should refer to the relevant award or industrial agreement for information on leave without pay.

Consultation

Consultation with an employee must occur before an employer‑initiated transfer or secondment and should also take place when an employee initiates a transfer or secondment. This ensures both the employer and the employee can discuss the reasons for the proposed movement and raise any questions or concerns.

As part of this process, decision‑makers should consider any potential impacts on the employee, including their preferred career path, flexible working arrangements, caring responsibilities, and any financial implications, such as changes to access to shift work, travel time, allowances or overtime. The consultation process should also cover the employee’s return rights. Under the GSE Rules, an employee who is seconded has a right to return to their home agency at the end of the secondment. The role they return to must be at the same work level/classification they held immediately before the secondment. The role must be suitable, although it does not have to be the exact position the employee previously occupied. However, where that position is available and the employee wishes to return to it, this would generally occur.

If, after consultation, the employee does not agree to an employer‑initiated transfer or secondment, they may request a review of the decision under Part 6 of the GSE Rules. 

Temporary and term employees

Although not excluded from transfer or secondment by the GSE Act, temporary and term employees should not be transferred or seconded. This is because temporary employment is for a temporary purpose and therefore should be for a specific period of time in an agency, and term employment is employment for a specified period or for the duration of a specified task.

If another agency requires the services of a temporary or term employee, the employee should be engaged separately by that agency as a temporary or term employee. This must be done in line with the GSE Rules that apply to temporary and term employment and consequently the employee has no right of return to the releasing agency. 

Public Service senior executives

Under the GSE Act, Public Service senior executives (PSSE) can move between Public Service agencies through an assignment (including temporary assignment) or through a transfer or secondment under section 64 of the GSE Act. However, to ensure mobility is applied consistently across the sector, the policy position is that movements of PSSEs between Public Service agencies should be made through assignment, rather than through transfer or secondment. These guidelines are written based on that policy approach.

More information about how assignments work for Public Service senior executives can be found in the Assignment to Role Guidelines.