Approval to Fill a Vacancy

A vacancy may arise for the following reasons:

• newly created positions
• staff attrition (eg resignation/retirement)
• leaves of absences/short term needs
• staff restructuring
• research projects

A request to fill a vacancy requires the identification or confirmation of a set of position descriptions and the relevant selection criteria (refer 2.5) for general staff or position guidelines for academic staff.

General Staff: Preparation of an accurate statement of duties and responsibilities for the position to be filled, and relevant selection criteria, are the responsibility of the school and must be authorised by the Head. Human Resources will classify the position according to the University of Western Australia General Staff Agreement. If the vacancy is to be formally advertised schools should allow a minimum of two weeks for the classification process prior to submitting a request for advertisement.

Academic Staff: Position guidelines for teaching and research academic staff and research staff are contained in the University of Western Australia Academic Staff Agreement.

In most cases the Dean's approval is required to fill a vacancy. The school's request for approval should include the following information:

• a Recommendation to Offer New Employment Contract or
• a completed Request For Advertisement form with the following:
• a draft advertisement
• the position description or an information statement about the position (academic)
• a search plan for academic appointments and general staff appointments at a senior level (see A – 7 for details)
• suggestions for membership of the selection committee

In general all vacant positions must be advertised.

The requirement to advertise vacant general staff positions can be satisfied by openly advertising or limiting the advertisement to current staff of the University (internally). An advertisement on the University’s website for a period of at least one week meets the requirement to advertise.

All academic vacancies must be advertised. To attract international applicants to long term vacancies, all Level B (teaching and research) vacancies should be advertised internationally.

General staff who are employed in positions at Level HEE10 or above will normally be offered a contract of up to 5 years. Level 10 Grade 1 and 2 may, at the Dean’s discretion, be filled on an ongoing basis.

To assist schools with short term needs there are limited exceptions to the requirement to advertise:

General Staff (including research grant funded):

General staff can be appointed for up to 2 years without advertisement. In exceptional circumstances a work area may, on approval of the Head of School, extend employment to a total of 2 years (including the initial appointment).

Staff appointed without advertisement cannot normally be converted to ongoing appointments without having been selected in competition with others.

Teaching and Research Academic Staff

Academic staff can be appointed for up to 2 years without advertisement. In exceptional circumstances a work area may, on approval of the Head of School, extend employment to a total of 2 years (including the initial appointment).

Research Academic Staff (Research Associates, Research Fellows)

Where possible all Research academic positions should be advertised. The University recognises that it is not always appropriate to advertise (eg ARC or NH&MRC named appointments). Schools can make a case to Deans to waive the requirement to advertise if it is reasonably certain that no better person is available.

Selection criteria are essential to the selection process. They supply the means by which a selection committee can assess the relative merit of applicants and ensure that the assessment in shortlisting, interviewing and the reference checking stages is made on the same bases for all applicants.