Research, analysis and publications
The workforce information we collect is collated and provided back to agencies to enable them to manage their workforce through benchmarking, trend reporting, policy development, evaluation, and workforce planning. At a macro level, we enable more accurate reporting and use of APS workforce information for Parliament and high-level APS committees, such as the Secretaries Board and the APS Reform Committee.
Workforce information is central to the annual State of the Service Report and bi-annual APS employment data releases.
All of this reporting of workforce information provides an evidence-base to support the development of APS-wide workforce management strategies, such as improvements to APS productivity, diversity, talent management, and workforce planning.
In this section you will be able to access reports and publications by topic that summarise the workforce information that we collect and analyse.
Reports
State of the Service Report
The State of the Service Report identifies year-to-year trends in workforce
participation and capability across the APS.
The APS Employee Census
The APS Employee Census is an annual survey which is used to collect confidential attitude and opinion information from APS employees on issues in the workplace. Many agencies publicly release their APS Employee Census results, and can be found in the various years below.
Publications by topic
First Nations employees in the APS
RN 29-21 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.51 MB)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 831.2 KB)
RN 12-23 First Nations Employees in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 809 KB)
Capability and performance in the APS
RN 30-21 Workgroup performance in the Australian Public Service.pdf (PDF - 588.33 KB)
Data skills and capability gaps (PDF - 588.41 KB)
Digital skills and capability gaps (PDF - 589.21 KB)
Employee perceptions of organisational performance during COVID-19 crisis (PDF - 621.79 KB)
Employee commitment to the APS (PDF - 604.61 KB)
Trust and Satisfaction in Australian democracy
Dissatisfaction with democracy and perceptions of future directions (PDF - 347.42 KB)
Civic education and democratic perceptions (PDF - 536.24 KB)
Carers in the APS
RN 34-21 Carers in the Australian Public Service.pdf (PDF - 1.44 MB)
Carers in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.67 MB)
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the APS
2022 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.94 MB)
RN 38-21 Cultural and linguistic diversity in the Australian Public Service.pdf (PDF - 628.32 KB)
RN15-23 - The Australian Public Service’s data on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity key insights (PDF - 2.31 MB)
Cultural backgrounds in the APS
Cultural backgrounds in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 3.04 MB)
Employees with disability in the APS
RN 31-21 Employees with disability in the Australian Public Service.pdf (PDF - 1.72 MB)
Employees with disability in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.87 MB)
RN 11-23 Employees with disability in the APS (PDF - 2.16 MB)
Employees who identify as LGBTIQA+ in the APS
RN 33-21 Employees who identify as LGBTIQA+ in the Australian Public Service.pdf (PDF - 1.26 MB)
Employees who identify as LGBTI+ in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.22 MB)
RN 10-23 LGBTIQA+ employees in the APS (PDF - 1.85 MB)
Gender pay gap
RN16-23 Drivers of Decreasing APS Gender Pay Gap (PDF - 852KB)
Drivers of the 2021 Australian Public Service Gender Pay Gap (PDF - 747.92 KB)
New starters in the APS
Older workers in the APS
Older workers in the Australian Public Service (PDF - 1.5 MB)
Neurodiversity in the APS
RN 09-23 - Neurodivergence in the APS (PDF - 654.7 KB)
Other information
The APS Agency Survey
The APS agency survey is conducted annually from June to July. It collects functional data and workforce metrics from APS agencies with more than 20 APS employees.
APS agency survey | Australian Public Service Commission (apsc.gov.au)
Glossary
Glossary | Australian Public Service Commission (apsc.gov.au)
APS agencies – size and function
APS Agencies – size and function | Australian Public Service Commission (apsc.gov.au)