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Last updated: 11 October 2005
Managing and sustaining the APS workforce
3. Workforce trends
Female employment
Prior to World War II, a series of legislative and administrative barriers to female participation in the workforce meant women constituted less than 20% of the APS.
In 1949, all APS examinations were opened up to women. The bar on ongoing employment of married women was abolished in 1966. In 1973, female employees achieved equal rates of pay for equal work throughout the APS.
As has been the case with other more recent reforms to APS employment arrangements, the impact of these changes on the structure and characteristics of the APS workforce was delayed, and Figure 9 shows that it was not until 2001 that the proportion of women in the APS reached 50%. This upward trend continues, with women now making up more than 53% of the existing APS workforce, over 57% of new recruits, and over 60% of new recruits aged under 35.
The proportion of female employees varies significantly from agency to agency, from less than 40% in agencies such as the Department of Defence, the Australian Customs Service and the Bureau of Meteorology (less than 20% in the latter) to 65% or more in many agencies that deal with social policies and programmes, for example, Centrelink, FaCS and the Department of Health and Ageing.
Figure 9: Proportion of ongoing staff who are female, 1984 to 2004
Source: APSED
Apart from removal of the legislative and administrative barriers, the increase in the proportion of women in the APS has been promoted by factors such as rising female participation in the general labour force, outsourcing of traditionally male-dominated areas of APS employment such as construction, transportation and the defence industries, and introduction of conditions of employment in the APS that promote a work-life balance, for example, maternity leave, flexible working hours and permanent part-time work.
There remain some concerns about women's access to the upper management levels of the APS, where they still comprise less than one-third of the SES and less than half of the EL group. However, these proportions are rising steadily each year, and women at senior levels are, on average, much younger than their male counterparts.
If the current trend continues, the proportion of the workforce across all agencies that is female will eventually approach 60%. Some agencies-especially those social policy and programme agencies where female participation already exceeds 65% and is generally continuing to rise-may wish to consider introducing strategies for attracting more young male recruits.
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