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Preface

Supporting the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a key priority for the Australian Public Service (APS) and its individual agencies.

The Australian Government announced the APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees in August 2005. Part of this strategy is a programme of research to inform current and future approaches to improving attraction, development and retention of Indigenous Australians in the APS, including a survey of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. This report presents the main findings of that survey which was undertaken in November 2005.

The survey, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Survey, is the first of this scale and significance undertaken by the Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) into the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS employees. It provides information on a range of issues including career intentions, commitment to the workplace, job satisfaction and support from agencies.

All employees in the APS who had identified to their agency that they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander were invited to participate. A total of 1554 valid responses were received, representing a response rate of 59%. The appendix to this report provides information on the survey methodology.

The Commission engaged the services of ORIMA Research to assist with the design, delivery and statistical outputs of the survey. Assistance in the development and pilot testing of the survey was provided by employees from a number of agencies including the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH), Centrelink, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS), the then Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS), the Department of Health and Ageing (Health), the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL).

Other main information sources used in the preparation of the report include the results of the 2004 and 2005 State of the Service employee surveys and data from the Australian Public Service Employment Database (APSED).

A complementary publication, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Survey Results, provides aggregate results of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Survey. A summary pamphlet, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Report At a Glance, is also available. These publications are available on the Commission’s website.