Employee engagement
Australian Public Service employees feel positively engaged in their work, as reported in the 2025 Australian Public Service Employee Census. The overall Employee Engagement Index score increased by one index point to 75, the highest level recorded since this measure was introduced in 2018 (Figure 7).
Employee engagement is about employee commitment to their organisation and the contribution they seek to make to organisational outcomes. Safe environments support employee engagement, and high levels of employee engagement contribute to positive, high-performing organisational cultures.
Figure 7: APS Employee Engagement Index scores (2018 to 2025)
Source: APS Employee Census
This trend was primarily driven by improvements relating to employee perceptions of their agencies. Figure 8 shows the percentage of respondents to the 2024 and 2025 APS Employee Census who provided a positive response to questions that relate to employee engagement.
In 2025, 67% of respondents agreed their agency really inspired them to do their best work every day (up from 60% in 2024), and 77% would recommend their agency as a good place to work (up from 71% in 2024).
Figure 8: APS employee experiences (2024 and 2025)
Source: APS Employee Census
While rates are consistently high for the APS as a whole, results for employee engagement vary significantly across agencies. Agencies with lower employee engagement levels are encouraged to consider ways to improve these perceptions, with positive benefits for work performance, productivity and culture.
The Australian Public Service Commission provides agencies with reports on their APS Employee Census results, including the drivers of engagement in their workforce. It offers additional materials and briefings to assist agencies in understanding their results, as well as guides to support action planning within teams.