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© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia - Australian Public Service Commission

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Census report

The Census Report provides information on the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS.

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.

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1—Overview

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census
• APS Employment and Capability Strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees
• Key findings
  • Indigenous representation in the APS (Chapter 2)
  • Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders working in the APS (Chapter 3)
  • Recruiting Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders to the APS (Chapter 4)
  • Managing, sustaining and engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (Chapter 5)
  • Career progression and learning and development for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the APS (Chapter 6)
  • Relationships and behaviour in the workplace (Chapter 7)
  • APS agency commitment and support to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (Chapter 8)

Chapter 2—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee profile

• Trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation
• Classification structures
• Career progression
• Representation of men and women
• Age profile
• Engagements and separations
  • Engagements
  • Separations
• Other features of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment
  • Length of service
  • Location
  • Mobility within the APS
  • Educational qualifications
• Key findings

Chapter 3—Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders working in the APS

• Where are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees working?
  • Service delivery to the public
• Contribution of work to the Indigenous community
• Identified positions
• Employee pride and identity
• Key findings

Chapter 4—Recruiting Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders to the APS

• Commencing in the APS
  • Immediately prior to joining the APS
  • Previous employment with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
  • Classification level on joining the APS
  • Employment category on joining the APS
  • Processes used to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to the APS
  • Requirement to leave home to take up a position in the APS
• Getting into the APS—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment
  • Increasing Indigenous representation in the APS
  • Applying for positions in the APS—selection processes
  • Types of vacancies—mainstream and targeted recruitment processes
• Participation on selection panels
• Merit in the recruitment process
• Key findings

Chapter 5—Managing, sustaining and engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS employees

• Intentions to remain in the APS
• Prior employment in the APS and reasons for leaving
• Job satisfaction
• Management effectiveness
  • People management
  • Performance management
  • Issues impacting negatively on performance at work
  • Other management factors
• Key findings

Chapter 6—Career progression and learning and development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS employees

• Career intentions
  • Recent experience of applying for positions within the APS
  • Relocation to further career
  • Factors preventing career advancement
• Learning and development
  • Access to learning and development
  • Skill development priorities
  • Development programmes
• Key findings

Chapter 7—Relationships and behaviour in the workplace

• APS Values and Code of Conduct
• Balancing family and/or community and professional obligations
• Discrimination and bullying and/or harassment
• Key findings

Chapter 8—APS agency commitment and support to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders

• Agency commitment
  • Indigenous employment strategies
  • Cultural awareness training
  • Working effectively and sensitively with Indigenous Australians
• Agency support
  • Indigenous APS Employees’ Network
• Working life
  • Input into workplace decisions
  • Work-life balance
  • Supervisor’s support for flexible work practices
  • Balancing cultural and community commitments
• Key findings

Chapter 9—Challenges facing the APS

• Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander capability
• Encouraging a greater diversity of roles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the APS
• Encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to remain within the APS
• Improving the quality of workplace support
• Particular challenges
  • People management
  • Values
  • Workplace support

Appendix—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander APS Employees Census survey methodology

Glossary

Figures and Tables

• Figure 2.1: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.2: Change in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ongoing employees at selected classifications, weighted and indexed, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.3: 1995 to 1998 APS 1–2 ongoing engagement cohort: those retained in the APS by classification group at June 2005
• Figure 2.4: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by sex, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.5: Representation of women by classification: ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and total APS, June 2005
• Figure 2.6: Proportion of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees working part-time by sex, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.7: Age profile of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and total APS, 2005
• Figure 2.8: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—representation of young people, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.9: Proportion of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees working part-time by age group and sex, June 2005
• Figure 2.10: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagements by classification group, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Figure 2.11: Representation of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in trainee classifications, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.12: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagements by age group, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Figure 2.13: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagements and separations as a proportion of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Figure 2.14:Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander separations, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Figure 2.15: Age profile of ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagements and separations, 2004–05
• Figure 2.16: Ongoing separations by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status and length of service, 2004–05
• Figure 2.17: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—length of service, 1996 to 2005
• Figure 2.18: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—promotion andtransfer rates between agencies, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Figure 3.1: Proportion of respondents who had direct dealings with different groups in the last 12 months
• Figure 3.2: Levels of pride in both agency and APS by classification group
• Figure 7.1: Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees reporting discrimination on different grounds
• Figure 7.2: Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and APS employees reporting bullying/harassment on different grounds
• Figure 7.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents reporting that they have been subject to discrimination and bullying or harassment in the last 12 months, by classification group
• Figure 7.4: Person(s) responsible for discrimination and bullying or harassment
• Figure 8.1: Proportion of carers reporting days used for carers leave or similar arrangements by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and APS employees
• Table 2.1: Ongoing representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by classification group, 1996, 1999 and 2005
• Table 2.2: Ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees—proportion by age, 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005
• Table 2.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation in engagements and separations of ongoing employees, 1995–96 to 2004–05
• Table 2.4: Highest completed educational qualification
• Table 3.1: Type of work performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
• Table 4.1: Classification levels on commencement in the APS
• Table 4.2: Potential approaches to increasing Indigenous representation in the APS
• Table 4.3: Vacancy types and preferences
• Table 5.1: Reason for intending to leave in the next three years
• Table 5.2: Job satisfaction—sixteen workplace factors impacting on job satisfaction
• Table 5.3: Top five job satisfaction factors by locality
• Table 5.4: Attributes important in a supervisor
• Table 5.5: Factors negatively impacting on employees’ performance at work
• Table 6.1: Factors that have hindered or prevented respondents from seeking a higher position in the APS
• Table 6.2: Proportion of respondents reporting skill development areas as a high priority by classification group
• Table 6.3: Preferences for programmes specifically targeted at Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
• Table 6.4: Preferences for general development programmes
• Table 8.1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees’ awareness of their agency’s Indigenous Employment Strategy, where the agency reported having a strategy, and their views on its effectiveness
• Table 8.2: Agency support mechanisms

© Commonwealth of Australia 2006

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600, or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca

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