IP Australia welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Review.

General feedback

IP Australia supports the review and as a smaller agency supports the notion of flatter structures supported by agile movement across business priorities without being restricted by hierarchy constraints. This would need to be supported by genuine devolution of decision making to lower levels.

The implementation of the technical streams would be supported by IP Australia, this would enable the ability to design roles to be focused on technical deliverables and to establish remuneration structures to support these as required.
Specific classification feedback

Schedule 1 of the Public Service Classification Rules 2000 has included the agency specific classification of Examiner of Patents since its introduction in November 2000 (refer Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No GN 47, November 2000).
• This classification is crucial to the operation of the IP Australia’s core business
• Provides for the attraction and retention of key skills
• Provides for pay range, as specified in the IP Australia Enterprise Agreement that goes beyond the APS 6 while maintaining integrity of the work value framework

Over the last three years 30 per cent of the workforce has been classified as Examiner of Patents.

These employees contribute significantly to the delivery of IP Australia Program 1 under Outcome 1 in the 2021-22 Portfolio Budget Statement (PBS). Specially they contribute to:

Administering patent, trade mark, design and plant breeder’s rights legislation.

The pay scales allocated to this classification in the IP Australia Enterprise Agreement differs from the general APS 6 classification. Examiner of Patents has four pay points above the APS 6, and a total of 223 or 63 per cent of the current Examiner of Patents cohort are above the APS 6 range. The Examiners of Patents undergo an extensive two-year development program before obtaining their Acceptance Delegation, the extended pay points within the classification provide them with pay advancement without compromising the principles of the work level standards. It also provides recognition of the requirement to maintain the Acceptance Delegation and associated legal and technical competencies for the entirety of employment in the Examiner Patent classification.

IP Australia requests the Examiner of Patent classification be maintained.