APS workplaces
Australian Public Service employee engagement in their work continues to grow, and is now at the highest level recorded in the APS Employee Census. In 2025, the overall Employee Engagement Index score increased to 75, up one index point from 74 in 2024.
APS employees have an increasingly positive view of the support offered within their agencies to sustain their health and wellbeing. In 2025, the overall Wellbeing Policies and Support Index score in the APS Employee Census is 72, up from 70 in 2024.
Flexible working arrangements contribute to an APS workforce that is highly skilled, engaged and represents the community it serves. In 2025, 80% of APS Employee Census respondents accessed some form of flexible working arrangement.
Decision-making at the lowest appropriate level is now a legislated requirement through amendments to the Public Service Act 1999 , which came into effect in December 2024. Agency heads are required to implement measures to create work environments that enable decisions to be made by APS employees at the lowest appropriate classification, in line with work-level standards.
The APS is identifying and implementing ways to enhance workforce productivity and continuously improve government service delivery for the Australian people. This includes acting on opportunities to free up employee time for higher-value work and rethinking ways services can be delivered where and when needed.
The midway point of the APS Enterprise Agreement 2024-27 has been reached. The 103 APS enterprise agreements in place reflect the outcomes negotiated during the service-wide bargaining round that concluded in March 2024. The Australian Public Service Commission continues to support APS agencies to embed, monitor and evaluate common conditions of employment.
The APS Reform agenda is a comprehensive public sector reform program, delivering tangible results and steady, scalable change across the service. From December 2024, amendments to the Public Service Act locked in key initiatives to strengthen the APS Values, build APS capability and expertise, and support good governance, accountability and transparency.
The Collaboration Circle is a new way of working between chief operating officers and employees from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. It provides a forum for senior leaders to listen and learn from the lived experience of First Nations members. First Nations members can use their public sector experience to shape solutions on matters relating to them.
APS agencies are working towards achieving the APS Net Zero 2030 Target, guided by the Net Zero in Government Operations Strategy. Net Zero involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency, adopting renewable energy and implementing other reduction strategies.