| Circular Number | 2025-32 |
| Issue date: | 15 May 2025 |
| Application: |
All public service body heads Public service executives |
| Resources: | Pre-employment screening and recruitment |
| Enquiries: | Integrity and Oversight branch Victorian Public Sector Commission 03 9922 8600 integrity@vpsc.vic.gov.au |
Key points
- The Victorian Public Sector Commissioner (Commissioner) recommends that public service body Heads adopt the updated minimum standards for pre-employment screening when recruiting Victorian Public Service (VPS) executives.
- These updated standards recommend that employers undertake more stringent misconduct validation and stricter reference checks, ensuring a more rigorous assessment of VPS executive candidates.
- By implementing these measures, employers can access critical information about a candidate’s past employment history, enabling them to make more informed decisions about suitability for VPS executive roles.
- These changes have been incorporated into the Guide to pre-employment screening and Guide to pre-employment misconduct screening.
Requirements
Due to the power and influence exercised by executives, the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) has updated these materials to reduce the risk of employees moving between employers without previous misconduct and other relevant information being known or appropriately assessed as part of the requirements of a position.
Strengthened misconduct validation checks
- While candidates are required to complete a misconduct declaration as part of the recruitment process, the current validation process for employers is voluntary.
- Under the new settings, the recommendation is that employers validate a preferred candidate’s declaration if the recruitment process is for an executive role.
- Where a candidate has not declared any form of misconduct, employers should validate with:
- their current/previous employer (depending on whether they are still employed).
- Where a candidate has declared some form of misconduct, employers should validate with:
- the relevant employer and if different also their current/previous employer (i.e. to determine if there have been any further matters that were not declared).
Tightened referee checks
- Preferred candidates should provide at least two reference checks, including but not limited to:
- the candidate’s current direct line manager (or most recent if the candidate is not currently employed)
- where the candidate has been in any other role in the past five years, any other previous line manager.
- For candidates who have not been in any other role in the past five years, the second referee should be someone who is well placed to comment on the candidate’s work performance and behaviour
- If it is not possible/appropriate to complete a referee check with the candidate’s current/last direct line manager, the reference check should be conducted with the manager above the direct line manager, or the People and Culture executive of that organisation.
- At organisations’ discretion, more than two reference checks may be warranted, for example where an executive has moved around a lot in recent years, or in those circumstances where the current/most recent line manager is not available or appropriate.
Date the recommended changes commence
It is recommended that public service body Heads align their internal pre-employment screening polices with these changes by 1 July 2025.
Scope
This circular applies to all public service bodies for executive officer recruitment.
A public service body is a Department, an Administrative Office established under section 11 of the Public Administration Act 2004 and the Victorian Public Sector Commission. Employers can use the VPSC’s list of public sector employers to determine whether either change affects them.