Employee performance and development
Direction and guidance for implementing the department’s performance and development requirements.
Audience
All casual, permanent, and temporary department staff employed for periods as defined for the relevant employee group.
| Version | Date | Description of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| V01.0.2 | 13/08/2026 | Updated to amend links. | R/Director Performance, Accreditation and Systems |
| V01.0.1 | 20/11/2025 | Updated link title. | Director Performance, Accreditation and Systems |
| V01.0.0 | 30/08/2024 | Under the 2023 Policy and procedure review program, new policy document with consolidated instructions previously provided in the Performance management and development policy and procedures. | Chief People Officer |
About the policy
Under the Professional learning, performance and accreditation policy all employees are required to participate in professional learning, performance and accreditation processes to comply with their relevant legislative, department, school and workplace requirements.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Cycle | The period over which staff members’ performance and development activities will occur. |
Performance and development | Activities designed to improve the staff member’s knowledge, understanding, capability and performance of their duties. |
Staff/staff member | All casual, permanent, and temporary department staff employed for periods as defined for the relevant employee group. |
Supervisor/manager | The person immediately responsible for monitoring the performance and development processes and/or supervision of the staff member’s day to day activities. |
All staff:
- must participate in performance and development processes (consistent with the conditions of employment, as outlined in the implementation documents).
Supervisors/managers:
- are responsible for the operation and implementation of this procedure
- must work with staff members to implement the performance and development process consistent with the policy, procedure and staff members’ conditions of employment.
What needs to be done
Employees must understand and follow the performance and development settings relevant to their role as outlined in the Mandatory tools and templates section below.
The Government Sector Employment (General) Rules 2014 (NSW) requires that performance and development processes:
- set clear expectations for staff to guide their career and capability development
- improve performance
- evaluate and strengthen practice
- recognise the achievements of the individual.
These procedures have been developed with reference to the NSW Premier’s Department’s Performance Management Policy and Guidelines 1998 (PDF 9 MB).
Performance and development processes are complemented by other management practices. Conditions of staff employment, including performance and development principles, can be found in:
- legislation
- regulations
- industrial instruments
- determinations
- NSW Government policies
- the department’s procedures and other administrative documents.
For managing employee underperformance, refer to Management of conduct and performance (staff only).
Record-keeping requirements
Section 15.9.3 of the General retention and disposal authority: Administrative records (GA28) of State Records NSW, requires that all records of performance and development be retained for a minimum of 3 years after they are superseded.
Mandatory tools and templates
To access the relevant performance and development settings, follow the appropriate link below:
- Principals, executives, teachers and non-school based teaching staff (NSBTS) – Performance and Development Framework for Principals, Executives and Teachers in NSW Public Schools (staff only) (PDF 1.1 MB)
- Casual teachers – Performance and Development Framework for Casual Teachers (staff only) (PDF 845 KB)
- Non-teaching staff in schools – Performance and development for non teaching staff in schools (staff only) (PDF 791 KB) procedure (a list of employee groups included under this category can be found in section 2 of the linked procedure)
Supporting tools, resources and related information
Support for performance and development requirements:
- for all staff - Performance and development (staff only)
- Teaching staff (staff only)
- for teaching staff - Q+ Professional Planning and Accreditation (staff only)
- School support staff (staff only)
- Performance and development cycle for school staff (staff only)
- for all staff - Learning about performance and development (staff only)
- for Education support staff (public service non-executive and public service senior executives) - Performance and develpment (staff only)
- SuccessFactors (staff only)
- for Education support staff – SuccessFactors performance and development (staff only)
- Performance and devlopment cycle for education support staff (staff only)
Policy contact
The Executive Director, Talent, Capability and Performance monitors the implementation of this procedure, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.