Flexible work in the APS
Flexible working arrangements contribute to an Australian Public Service workforce that is highly skilled, engaged, and represents the community it serves.
These arrangements are a key attraction and retention tool as they:
- make it possible for APS agencies to secure the skilled people needed, wherever they are in Australia
- are commonly reported as one of the most important workplace conditions that existing and prospective APS employees value.
Since 2020, overall uptake of flexible working arrangements has increased significantly. This has been mostly driven by the increase in employees working away from the office at least some of the time.
In 2025, 80% of APS Employee Census respondents accessed some form of flexible working arrangement (up from 71% in 2020):
- 68% worked away from the office at least some of the time (up from 53% in 2020)
- 30% accessed flexible hours of work (up from 27% in 2020)
- 13% worked part time (down from 16% in 2020)
- 5% worked a compressed work week (up from 3% in 2020)
- 0.3% had a job sharing arrangement (steady at 0.4% in 2020).
Results from the 2025 Employee Census indicate that employees with disability are more likely to work fully remotely (13%) than employees without disability (6%). Working remotely is more common among neurodivergent employees (12%) than it is among other employees (6%). Employees with caring responsibilities tend to use fully remote (8%) and regular hybrid arrangements (55%) more than employees without caring responsibilities (6% and 49% respectively).
While working away from the office has a range of benefits, it can present challenges. APS agencies have processes for maintaining connections with employees working away from the office, and require employees to have workstations that meet health and safety requirements. The need for ongoing training and support for managing remote and hybrid teams is recognised within the APS.
APS agencies vary significantly in size, function and workforce requirements. Agencies continue to test approaches to flexible work arrangements in their settings. Flexibility applies to all roles, with different types suitable for different roles. Flexible working arrangements need to work for individuals, their teams and agencies.
The Australian Public Service Commission supports APS agencies by gathering and sharing knowledge on developments in community expectations, legal frameworks, research on connections between flexible work and productivity, and psychosocial safety of employees working away from the office.
As an outcome of the APS-wide bargaining process conducted under the Public Sector Workplace Relations Policy 2023, all 103 APS enterprise agreements contain a common clause on flexible working arrangements.