The auto parking brake only works when you turn the engine off, at least that's what it does in my V6 manual, and from what I recall the User Handbook says the same.
Hill start assist only works when the car is in (1st?) gear and your feet are on the clutch and brake, then when you take your foot off the brake you have 2 seconds to pull away before the brakes are released.
I tried it with brake and clutch depressed and the car in neutral as an experiment to see if the hill start assist was working - the car slipped backwards but doesn't if the car is in 1st gear.
If you have the auto parking brake enabled, then it seems to be impossible to switch the parking brake off without starting the engine. Usually not an issue, but if you want to just push the car forward a couple of feet, or if the car won't start and it is blocking your other car in........