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Chapter 2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee profile5
As outlined in Chapter 1, the State of the Service Report 2004–05 found that in 2004–05 there had been a further reduction in the representation and numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the APS, with a clear trend of declining levels of employment since 1999.
This chapter explores data from the Australian Public Service Employment Database (APSED) to look at trends in the employment of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS in more detail. Where relevant, it uses data from the census survey to provide more detailed information about the profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.
In analysing this data, it is important to note that the provision of diversity data by APS employees to their agency, including whether an employee is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, is voluntary. Therefore, as with any large voluntary data collection, APSED may tend to under-represent the actual number of employees in these groups. Of the data supplied to APSED, Indigenous status has been provided for 69% of employees.
Employees for whom no data is available are included in the population for calculating percentages. Therefore, the percentages provided on representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the APS probably underestimate the actual proportions in agency and APS populations. Nevertheless, the overall proportion is consistent with the results from the 2005 State of the Service employee survey, which found that we could be 95% confident that the estimate of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in the APS is between 1% and 3%.6
The chapter begins by looking at overall trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation in the APS. It then examines the classification profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and the representation of this group by sex and age profile. The chapter goes on to look in more detail at trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees’ engagement to, and separation from, the APS. It concludes by examining some other features of employment for this group, including length of service, location, mobility and educational qualifications.
Trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation
The decline in employment of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS that has been observed since 1999 continued in the year to June 2005. The decline was in fact sharper than it had been in recent years, with representation rates falling to 2.2% of ongoing employees, down from 2.4% in 2004.7 The number of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees fell from 2946 to 2770—a fall of 6.0%. This compares unfavourably with the slight increase in total ongoing employee numbers for the whole of the APS of 0.8% over the year.
This decline included 48 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who were transferred out of coverage of the Public Service Act 1999, but who remained in Commonwealth employment. If these 48 employees had not moved out of coverage of the Act, the representation rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees would have been 2.3% at June 2005, rather than 2.2%.
Despite this decline, the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the APS still compares favourably with that in the broader Australian workforce, in which 1.9% of all Australians aged 15 to 64 and 1.4% of the Australian labour force identified themselves as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.8
Figure 2.1 shows the change in ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee numbers and their proportion of total ongoing employees, from 1996 to 2005. It reveals that the proportional representation of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders reached a high of 2.7% of all ongoing APS employees in 1998 and 1999. Since that time, there has been a steady decline in the representation of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders among ongoing APS employees. The total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees has declined over the last 10 years, although numbers rose each year between 2001 and 2003, before falling for the past two years.
Figure 2.1: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, 1996 to 2005
Source: APSED
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-ongoing employee numbers also fell during 2004–05, from 301 to 274.
At June 2005, 12.5% of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees were working part-time. This is similar to the APS average of 11.3%.
The agencies with the largest increases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees during the year to June 2005 were the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) (156) and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) (121). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees moved to both of these agencies during the year following machinery of government changes. Agencies in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee numbers decreased were Centrelink (56 or 5.8%) and the Department of Defence (8 or 6.6%).
Classification structures
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are generally more concentrated at lower classifications: 10.1% are at the APS 1–2 levels, compared with 5.2% for the APS overall. In contrast, only 0.7% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are in the Senior Executive Service (SES) compared with 1.6% for the APS. Almost half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (46.5%) are at the APS 3–4 levels, compared with 35.9% for the APS.
Respondents to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Survey were slightly more likely to be at the APS 1–6 and trainee classifications than were the ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population on APSED (91% at the APS 6 level or below, compared to 89% of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees on APSED).
Table 2.1: Ongoing representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by classification group, 1996, 1999 and 2005
| 1996 | 1999 | 2005 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % of class’n who are Indigenous | % of Indigenous employees | No. | % of class’n who are Indigenous | % of Indigenous employees | No. | % of class’n who are Indigenous | % of Indigenous employees | |
| APS 1–2 | 995 | 3.9 | 30.0 | 541 | 4.4 | 19.4 | 280 | 4.4 | 10.1 |
| APS 3–4 | 1411 | 3.3 | 42.5 | 1349 | 3.6 | 48.5 | 1289 | 2.9 | 46.5 |
| APS 5–6 | 623 | 1.7 | 18.8 | 640 | 2.1 | 23.0 | 836 | 2.0 | 30.2 |
| EL | 142 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 162 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 293 | 1.1 | 10.6 |
| SES | 18 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 18 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 20 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Trainee | 100 | 12.9 | 3.0 | 63 | 38.7 | 2.3 | 39 | 10.3 | 1.4 |
| Grad trainee | 26 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 9 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 13 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| Other | 4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| Total | 3319 | 2.6 | 100.0 | 2783 | 2.7 | 100.0 | 2770 | 2.2 | 100.0 |
Source: APSED
While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees remain concentrated at lower classifications, they are less concentrated in these classifications than they were in 1996. For example, in 1996 APS 1–2 employees accounted for 30.0% of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment; by 1999, this figure had dropped to 19.4%, and by 2005 to only 10.1%. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees have increased their absolute numbers at the APS 5–6 levels, and among EL and SES employees. However, such increases have not been enough to compensate for the impact of the decreased use of APS 1–2 classifications across the APS on the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.
The decreased use of APS 1–2 classifications is a key reason for the decline in overall numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the APS. Representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees as a proportion of APS employees at this level was actually higher in 2005 (4.4%) than in 1996 (3.9%). However, reflecting the overall decline in numbers of APS 1–2 employees, the actual numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS 1–2 employees has fallen from 995 to 280.
There were some fluctuations over the period from 1996 to 2005 in representation at each level. However, at June 2005, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation, as a proportion of all APS employees at that level, had risen at the APS 1–2 and APS 5–6 levels and EL classifications, and fallen in the APS 3–4, trainee and graduate trainee classifications. The fall in proportional representation at the APS 3–4 levels has been due mainly to growth at these levels for the APS overall, although there has also been a fall in actual numbers (from 1411 to 1289). The proportional decline has been particularly strong in graduate trainee classifications, with representation as a proportion of relevant APS employees falling from 3.2% to 1.7% over the decade. Numbers in the SES have fluctuated throughout the period.
Entry to the APS through traineeships, cadetships and graduate traineeships is a key part of the APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees. Since June 2005, 25 graduates have been placed in 19 agencies, and a further three placed in non-graduate positions as part of the service-wide Indigenous Graduate Programme, and 32 cadets have been placed in 12 agencies as part of the National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP). An entry level traineeship programme based on a pilot programme run in Canberra in 2005 is expected to commence in the second half of 2006.
The increase in concentration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees among APS 5–6 and EL employees is shown in Figure 2.2. In this graph, each number is weighted using the June 1996 total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee numbers as a base. Weighting eliminates the effects that the change in the overall number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees has on representation. The index is given a value of 100 at June 1996, and rises and falls proportionally with the particular classification’s change in the weighted number over time. Due to the small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SES employees, this group is not included in the graph.
Figure 2.2: Change in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ongoing employees at selected classifications, weighted and indexed, 1996 to 2005
Source: APSED
Career progression
To examine whether there were any differences between the progression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and APS employees in general through the APS classification structure, a cohort analysis was undertaken of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees engaged at the APS 1–2 levels in the three years between 1995–96 and 1997–98.
The analysis showed that of this group, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees were more likely to have left the APS. Of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees engaged at the APS 1–2 levels between 1995–96 and 1997–98, 39.2% were still employed in the APS at June 2005, compared to 49.8% for all employees, a difference of over 10 percentage points (high separation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are discussed further below).
Of the employees in this cohort at June 2005, a lower proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees have progressed to higher classifications than APS employees in general (see Figure 2.3). For example, 12.8% of all employees remain at the APS 1–2 levels, whereas the figure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees is 20.2%. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are also slightly more likely than employees overall to be currently at the APS 3–4 levels (53.5% compared to 46.5%). However, employees overall are more likely to have progressed to the APS 5–6 levels (32.2% compared to 22.8% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees). Of those who remained in the APS at June 2005, 8.5% of all employees had progressed to an EL classification—for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees the proportion was only 3.5%.
Figure 2.3: 1995 to 1998 APS 1–2 ongoing engagement cohort: those retained in the APS by classification group at June 2005
Source: APSED
Representation of men and women
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS population is much more highly feminised than the APS population overall. Almost two-thirds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are women; during 2004–05, women’s representation increased from 64.2% to 64.7%. For the APS overall, women’s representation increased from 53.1% to 54.2%.
Respondents to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee survey were slightly more likely than the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ongoing population to be women (67%).
Figure 2.4 shows the number of male and female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees for the past 10 years.
Figure 2.4: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by sex, 1996 to 2005
Source: APSED
Figure 2.5 shows the representation of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and women in the APS generally, by classification. It reveals that, as for all women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are more concentrated in lower classifications. However, it also indicates that their representation at all levels, except the APS 2 level, is slightly higher than that for women overall.
Figure 2.5: Representation of women by classification: ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and total APS, June 2005
Source: APSED
As is the case for the APS overall, while part-time employment has been increasing for both men and women, women are still much more likely to work part-time, with 16.9% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women employed part-time at June 2005 compared with 4.5% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men (see Figure 2.6). Nine per cent of respondents to the census survey worked on a part-time basis.
Figure 2.6: Proportion of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees working part-time by sex, 1996 to 2005
Source: APSED
During 2004–05, the proportion of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders working part-time rose considerably, up by 2.7 percentage points. Women accounted for most of this increase. The comparable APS increase was 1.1 percentage points.
Age profile
Figure 2.7 indicates that, in general, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees have a younger age profile than the APS overall, with a higher proportion aged under 25, and fewer in the 40 and over age group; 42.1% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees were aged 40 and over compared with 56.7% of the total APS.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are younger than the APS average for all classifications, except trainees (including graduate trainees), where both groups have similar age profiles.
Figure 2.7: Age profile of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and total APS, 2005
Source: APSED
Respondents to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census Survey had a younger age profile than the total ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, with 39% of respondents under 35.
Table 2.2 shows the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in 10 year age groups, at June 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005. Over the decade, the largest increase has been in the 45 to 54 age group, which increased by 9.4 percentage points. Despite the younger age profile than the APS overall, the 55 and over age group has grown steadily over the past decade, particularly in the past few years, rising to 5.3% of all ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees at June 2005.
Table 2.2: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—proportion by age, 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005
| 1996 | 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | 18.1 | 11.7 | 8.4 | 6.8 |
| 25–34 | 39.7 | 39.2 | 36.9 | 33.6 |
| 35–44 | 28.0 | 29.5 | 31.4 | 32.6 |
| 45–54 | 12.3 | 16.9 | 19.2 | 21.7 |
| 55 and over | 2.0 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 5.3 |
| Median Age | 32 | 34 | 36 | 37 |
Source: APSED
Representation of young people amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees has fallen dramatically over the decade: from 18.1% in 1996 to 6.8% in 2005. This trend is shown in Figure 2.8. Most of the decline has been in the 20 to 24 age group. For the under 20 age group, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees is much smaller, and there has been little change in their representation over the decade. For the APS overall, the representation of young people has fallen from 6.3% to 4.0% over the decade.
Figure 2.8: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—representation of young people, 1996 to 2005
Source: APSED
The median age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees has risen from 32 to 37 over the decade. Comparison for the APS overall is a rise from 39 to 42.
The incidence of part-time work among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS also varies by age (see Figure 2.9). Part-time work for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is highest in the 25 to 39 age group, with 15.2% of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in this age group working part-time. The proportion is higher for women than for men in all age groups.
Figure 2.9: Proportion of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees working part-time by age group and sex, June 2005
Source: APSED
5 All data refers to ongoing employees only, unless specified otherwise.
6 Based on an estimate of 2% and a confidence interval of +/- 1%.
7 In 2004, we reported that 2.3% of ongoing employees at June 2004 were Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. This proportion has been revised upwards, due to an improvement in the quality of historical data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status.
8 ABS 2002, Census of Population and Housing 2001, ABS, Canberra.
