Chapter 2: Statistical snapshot

Abbreviations

A list of the abbreviations used in this report is available in the Glossary

This chapter explores current demographic and structural patterns of Australian public servants covered by the Public Service Act 1999, as well as changes over time. The past decade has seen considerable change in the structure of the APS. A period of restructure and reduction in size has been followed by several years of sustained growth. Several consistent trends have emerged—fewer jobs at lower classification levels, an ageing workforce and further feminisation of the APS workforce.

The main source of data for the chapter is the APS Employment Database (APSED), which is maintained by the Commission.¹ ASPED contains information about recruitment, mobility and separations for all ongoing and non-ongoing employees. Further detail on the size and composition of the APS can be found in the Australian Public Service Statistical Bulletin 2005–06.²

In this chapter

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Statistical snapshot
Size of the APS
Figure 2.1: APS employees, 1987 to 2006
Ongoing and non-ongoing employees
Figure 2.2: Ongoing employees by sex, 1997 to 2006
Figure 2.3: Non-ongoing employees as a proportion of total employees, 1997 to 2006
Figure 2.4: Proportion of total employees at each classification who are non–ongoing by sex, June 2006
Part-time employees
Figure 2.5: Proportion of ongoing employees working part-time by sex, 1997 to 2006
Figure 2.6: Proportion of ongoing employees working part-time by age group and sex, June 2006
Classification structures
Table 2.1: Ongoing employees by classification, 2005 and 2006
Figure 2.7: Ongoing employees by classification and sex, June 2006
Figure 2.8: Change in the number of women at selected classifications, weighted and indexed, 1997 to 2006
Mobility within the APS
Figure 2.9: Ongoing employees—promotion and transfer rates between agencies, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Educational qualifications
Age profile
Table 2.2: Ongoing employees—proportion by age, 1994 to 2006
Figure 2.10: Ongoing employees in selected agencies by age group, June 2006
Length of service
Figure 2.11: Ongoing employees—length of service, 1997 to 2006
Location
Diversity trends
Figure 2.12: Trends in diversity for ongoing employees, 1997 to 2006
Engagements and separations
Figure 2.13: Ongoing engagements and separations as a proportion of ongoing employees, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Figure 2.14: Age profile of ongoing engagements and separations, 2005–06
Figure 2.15: Ongoing engagements by classification, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Figure 2.16: Ongoing engagements by age group, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Figure 2.17: Ongoing separations, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Table 2.3: Separations of ongoing employees by age group, 2004–05 and 2005–06
Figure 2.18: Resignation/retirement rate for selected ages, 1996–97 to 2005–06
Demography of the SES leadership group
Figure 2.19: Age profile for ongoing SES employees, 1997 and 2006
Table 2.4: Ongoing SES employees by age group, sex and level, June 2006
Key chapter findings

Every effort is made to ensure the integrity of APSED data, but the Commission cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in the data provided by agencies. The Commission undertakes extensive audits of the data, and as a result of these audits, some errors in historical data have been corrected. For this reason, caution should be exercised when comparing data presented in this report with that from earlier years. Most significantly, previously published data on employee numbers may have been revised and therefore, may not be directly comparable. Due to different data sources and definitions, there may be variations between the data published here and that published by individual agencies.
Conceptual definitions used in workforce analysis are set out in the Introduction and Explanatory Notes to the Australian Public Service Statistical Bulletin 2005–06.