APS workforce

The Public Service Act 1999 requires the Australian Public Service to build and support a workforce that reflects the community it serves.

At 30 June 2025, the APS workforce had 198,529 employees working in 102 agencies, at 586 locations across Australia. The APS accounted for 1.36% of the Australian labour force in June 2025, compared with 1.35% in June 2005.

Around two thirds (65.7%) of APS agencies are operational, while the primary function for the remaining agencies is policy (23.8%), regulatory (4.9%), specialist (4.4%) and national cultural institution (1.1%).

The proportion of APS employees who are ongoing employees continued to rise (92.9% at 30 June 2025, up 0.9% from a year earlier). The APS engagement rate (14.6%), mobility rate (10.5%) and separation rate (6.4%) over the year to 30 June 2025 were all lower than the previous year.

The proportion of APS employees in the national capital fell a further 1.5% to 35.4% at 30 June 2025, while the proportion grew in other capital cities (up 1.4% to 51.3%) and regional areas (up 0.3% to 12.6%). The proportion of APS employees based overseas remained steady at 0.8%.

At 30 June 2025 there were 111 First Nations leaders serving in Senior Executive Service positions across the APS, up from 54 at 30 June 2023. The SES100 program has become a leading example of how co-design, cultural safety and system leadership can drive inclusion at the most senior levels.

A Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Capability Uplift package of resources and regular coaching sessions are supporting the development of CALD action plans to improve awareness, cultural safety and inclusive recruitment processes.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency Gender Equality Scorecard, released in May 2025, showed that Commonwealth public sector employers have an average total remuneration gap of 6.4%, compared to 21.1% in the private sector. In December 2024, the APS achieved its lowest recorded gender pay gap of 4.4%, based on annualised salaries.

A Disability Royal Commission Discovery Project is underway to consider the 5 recommendations aimed at improving employment for people with disability in the APS. Results from this work will contribute to the Australian Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission.

In January 2025, Australia’s first National Autism Strategy was released, supported by the First Action Plan. The actions for the APS workforce focus on improving employment opportunities and support for Autistic employees. The APS Neurodiversity Community of Practice contributed to the development of the recommendations in the Action Plan.

In 2025, Services Australia and the Australian Taxation Office received recognition for their LGBTIQA+ workplace policies after reaching Platinum Status on the Australian Workplace Equality Index.

Fifty-seven agencies supplied job family data relating to 174,394 APS employees. At 30 June 2025, the 5 largest APS job families are Service Delivery (24.4%), Administration (10.8%), Compliance and Regulation (9.7%), Portfolio, Program and Project Management (9.6%) and Policy (8.7%).

The APS Centre of Excellence for Workforce Planning has undertaken a strategic review of the APS Job Family Framework, which aligns with the December 2024 release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Occupation Standard Classification for Australia. This has resulted in a refined occupational taxonomy for the APS, including 16 job families, 51 job functions and 229 roles that capture the core work of the service.