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Section 44 of the Public Service Act 1999 (PS Act) provides that the Public Service Commissioner (PS Commissioner) must provide a report each year to the Minister for presentation to the Parliament, which includes a report on the state of the Australian Public Service (APS) during the year. The State of the Service report draws on a range of information sources. One of its main sources is a survey sent to all APS agencies employing 20 or more staff under the PS Act.

Eighty-seven APS agencies, or semi-autonomous parts of agencies, were sent the agency survey in June 2004 for completion.¹ All 87 agencies responded to the online survey, although several agencies submitted late responses. This represents a 100% response rate. Appendix 1 lists the agencies that submitted a response to the agency survey.

To assist with analysis of data from the agency survey in this year’s report, agencies have been grouped according to size. Of the 87 responding agencies, 21 were classified as large (>1000 APS employees), 27 as medium (251—1000 APS employees) and 39 as small (20—250 APS employees). These size categories are generally consistent with those used by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).² Appendix 1 provides information on agencies’ APS employee numbers.

Another main information source used in the preparation of the report is the results of the APS employee survey. The employee survey involved a stratified random sample of 6437 APS employees from APS agencies with at least 100 APS employees. A total of 3202 valid responses were received, representing a response rate of 50%.³ The sample size and number of valid responses allows a number of cross-tabulations with a degree of confidence. As was the case last year, individual agency results are not reported except to indicate agencies with good practice. Individual agency results are available for large agencies that want them for internal management purposes.

While the size groupings for large and medium agencies are the same for the agency and employee surveys, it should be noted that for the purpose of the employee survey ‘small’ refers to agencies with between 100 and 250 APS employees. Appendix 2 provides information on the employee and agency survey methodologies.

The APS Commission engaged the services of ORIMA Research to assist with the design, delivery and statistical outputs of both surveys. The APS Commission also engaged the services of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to advise on aspects of survey methodology. Centrelink generously agreed to provide a secondee to assist with the preparation of the report.

Assistance in the development of the agency survey was also provided by a number of agencies including the Department of Finance and Administration (Finance), the National Archives of Australia (NAA) and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO). The draft agency survey was also pilot tested by staff from the Department of Defence (Defence), CRS Australia (CRS), the Child Support Agency (CSA), Centrelink, the Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH), the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the APS Commission.

The report also draws on the results of several evaluations conducted by the APS Commission during 2003—04 including on agencies’ management of the Code of Conduct, agencies’ protocols supporting employees’ interactions with Ministers’ offices and agencies’ workplace diversity programs. Appendix 3 provides information on the evaluation methodologies.

The report has also relied heavily on published reports from parliamentary committees and the ANAO. Input has been sought from central agencies, particularly Finance, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and the ANAO and their assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Contributions were also appreciated from the Australian Customs Service (Customs), the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Australian War Memorial (AWM), Centrelink, Comcare, CSA, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR), the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of the Senate, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), NAA and the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (Ombudsman).

Associated with the State of the Service Report 2003—04 are two other publications, the Australian Public Service Statistical Bulletin 2003—04 and the State of the Service Employee Survey Results 2003—04. These publications are available on the APS Commission website at <http://www.apsc.gov.au>.

1 This does not include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) given the transfer of employees from ATSIS to mainstream agencies on 1 July 2004.

2 ANAO, Staffing reductions in the Australian Public Service, Performance Audit Report No. 49, 1998—99.

3 When the Australian Protective Service (which moved outside Public Service Act 1999 coverage on 1 July 2004) is removed from the equation, the overall response rate is 52%.