Tasmania's Auditor-General has poked some holes in rules around the hiring and firing of the state’s public servants.

Auditor-General Mike Blake has been looking into the perception of favouritism in the recruitment process.

He found that the state has no specific requirements for declaring conflicts of interest, and there was no evidence that selection panellists had been trained for their roles.

The findings will only add to concerns raised about rampant favouritism and jobs-for-mates in the Tasmanian public sector. 

Of the four different government agencies audited, investigators from the AG’s office found selection panels had no clear idea of their roles and complied only with the broad guidelines they were given.

Those who declared a conflict of interest did so of their own accord, and otherwise had not obligations.

The Attorney-General recommended the introduction of a standard requirement saying that if a person is to join a selection panel, and they have seen and know the people who are going to apply, then they should declare it.

The Community and Public Sector Union welcomed the recommendation, saying it would go some way to reducing the ill-will towards the supposedly merit-based selection processes in the state service.