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The APSC remains committed to managing workplace absence and collects data from APS agencies on personal and miscellaneous leave use. This appendix reports on unscheduled absence, measured as the average number of unscheduled absences per employee during the year.

The unscheduled absence rate has remained relatively stable over the last five years (Table A5.1).


Table A5.1: Unscheduled absence, 2013–14 to 2017–18
  2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18
Rate 11.2 11.6 11.5 11.4 11.4

Table A5.2 shows the personal and miscellaneous leave usage by agency size during 2017–18. The overall rate of unscheduled absence in the APS has remained stable since 2016–17.

Table A5.2: Unscheduled absence by agency size, 2016–17 and 2017–18
Agency size Unscheduled absence
2017–18		 Unscheduled absence
2016–17
Small agencies 10.5 10.6
Medium agencies 11.9 12.1
Large agencies 12.5 12.3
Overall APS 11.4 11.4

Table A5.3 provides unscheduled absence data by individual agency.


Table A5.3: Unscheduled absence by agency, 2016–17 and 2017–18
Agency name Days
Sick leave 2017–18 Carer’s leave 2017–18 Misc. leave 2017–18 Total unscheduled absence rate 2016–17 Total unscheduled absence rate 2017–18
Aboriginal Hostels Limited 11.8 1.4 0.7 16.7 13.9
Administrative Appeals Tribunal 9.6 2.0 2.2 13.2 13.8
Agriculture and Water Resources 11.3 2.6 0.2 14.5 14.0
Attorney-General’s Department 7.1 2.1 0.3 10.9 9.5
Australian Aged Care Quality Agency 10.2 2.5 0.6 11.1 13.3
Australian Building and Construction Commission 8.1 2.0 0.2 11.8 10.4
Australian Bureau of Statistics 9.6 2.3 0.5 11.8 12.3
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research 7.0 1.9 0.3 8.2 9.2
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission 8.4 1.2 0.6 8.7 10.2
Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity 6.5 1.5 0.4 10.5 8.4
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care 10.1 1.7 1.0 9.9 12.8
Australian Communications and Media Authority 8.7 2.2 0.3 11.7 11.2
Australian Competition Consumer Commission 6.1 1.7 0.3 8.1 8.1
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission 10.2 2.3 0.2 13.3 12.7
Australian Digital Health Agency 9.5 1.4 0.5 8.2 11.5
Australian Electoral Commission 11.1 3.4 0.4 14.6 14.9
Australian Financial Security Authority 9.4 2.7 0.3 12 12.5
Australian Fisheries Management Authority 12.0 2.9 0.8 15.4 15.7
Australian Human Rights Commission 5.2 1.6 0.4 8.9 7.3
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies 10.6 2.4 0.4 12.1 13.4
Australian Institute of Family Studies 8.6 1.3 0.2 14.9 10.2
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 8.7 2.1 0.7 11.2 11.5
Australian National Audit Office 8.1 2.1 0.4 11 10.6
Australian National Maritime Museum 6.4 1.7 1.0 8.6 9.2
Australian Office of Financial Management 5.6 3.1 0.3 8.6 9.0
Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority 12.4 2.7 0.5 15.5 15.5
Australian Public Service Commission 7.4 2.8 0.6 9.8 10.8
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency 8.2 2.1 0.2 10 10.6
Australian Research Council 9.1 3.1 0.7 13 12.8
Australian Securities and Investments Commission 7.2 1.7 0.4 9.4 9.4
Australian Skills Quality Authority 9.6 1.4 1.5 13.1 12.5
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority 4.5 1.0 0.1 7.5 5.6
Australian Taxation Office 9.1 2.1 0.4 11.8 11.6
Australian Trade Commission 7.8 1.8 0.2 9.1 9.9
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre 7.9 1.8 0.3 10.4 10.0
Australian Transport Safety Bureau 6.4 2.6 0.3 10.7 9.3
Australian War Memorial 7.6 2.7 0.2 11 10.4
Bureau of Meteorology 8.2 2.6 0.3 10.4 11.0
Cancer Australia 4.9 1.0 0.7 10.1 6.6
Clean Energy Regulator 10.1 2.3 0.9 12.9 13.2
Comcare 12.8 2.3 0.6 15.4 15.6
Commonwealth Grants Commission 9.0 1.9 0.4 9.8 11.3
Commonwealth Ombudsman 10.5 2.2 0.3 12.5 13.1
Communications and the Arts 8.7 2.4 0.3 12 11.4
Defence 11.3 2.5 0.4 12.9 14.2
Defence Housing Australia 8.6 2.1 0.8 11.5 11.5
Digital Transformation Agency 6.9 1.7 0.2 9.9 8.8
Director of Public Prosecutions 8.6 1.8 0.2 9.8 10.6
Education and Training 9.9 2.8 0.8 13.8 13.6
Environment and Energy 9.7 2.0 0.3 11.3 12.1
Fair Work Commission 7.2 1.7 1.0 11.3 9.9
Federal Court Statutory Agency 7.6 1.6 0.5 7.7 9.7
Finance 10.0 2.7 0.3 13.3 13.1
Food Standards Australia New Zealand 7.1 2.6 0.6 10.7 10.3
Foreign Affairs and Trade 7.8 2.2 0.2 10 10.1
Future Fund Management Agency 3.6 0.9 0.3 4.7 4.8
Geoscience Australia 8.2 2.6 0.2 11.2 11.0
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 7.6 2.9 1.0 11.4 11.5
Health 10.7 2.3 0.7 14.1 13.6
Home Affairs 11.4 2.9 0.7 13.6 15.0
Human Services 13.3 2.3 0.6 15.5 16.1
IP Australia 9.1 2.8 0.3 12.1 12.1
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority 11.1 2.3 0.3 . 13.6
Industry, Innovation and Science 8.9 1.9 0.1 10.6 10.9
Infrastructure and Regional Development 10.2 2.6 0.4 12.6 13.1
Jobs and Small Business 10.5 2.8 0.4 13.4 13.7
Murray-Darling Basin Authority 8.1 2.8 1.0 9.7 11.9
Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House 7.6 2.3 0.6 10.8 10.5
National Archives of Australia 13.0 3.7 0.3 16.7 17.1
National Blood Authority 7.6 2.6 0.2 9 10.4
National Capital Authority 8.0 3.1 1.1 12.4 12.2
National Disability Insurance Agency 10.1 1.9 0.8 12.6 12.8
National Film and Sound Archive 9.6 3.6 0.3 14.3 13.5
National Health and Medical Research Council 8.1 2.4 0.4 12.8 10.9
National Library of Australia 11.0 2.7 0.4 13.4 14.1
National Museum of Australia 11.1 2.8 0.5 13.8 14.3
National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority 7.6 2.1 0.2 8.2 9.9
National Portrait Gallery 7.6 2.5 0.4 12 10.5
Office of National Assessments 5.0 2.6 0.5 9.5 8.1
Office of Parliamentary Counsel 9.3 3.4 0.7 15.3 13.5
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner 7.9 2.4 0.3 13.1 10.6
Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman 9.9 2.3 0.4 13.6 12.6
Office of the Inspector-General of Taxation 4.7 0.4 0.3 5.1 5.5
Organ and Tissue Authority 8.5 1.3 0.6 9.9 10.4
Prime Minister and Cabinet 10.7 2.4 0.5 12.9 13.6
Productivity Commission 7.2 1.5 0.3 9 8.9
Royal Australian Mint 6.5 1.3 0.2 11.6 8.0
Safe Work Australia 8.9 1.9 0.9 13.2 11.6
Social Services 10.4 2.7 0.4 14.1 13.4
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency 6.5 1.5 0.6 7.5 8.7
Torres Strait Regional Authority 6.4 2.0 0.4 8.3 8.8
Treasury 7.5 1.9 0.4 9.4 9.9
Veterans’ Affairs 11.8 1.7 0.3 14.6 13.8
Workplace Gender Equality Agency 6.2 1.6 0.7 8.1 8.4
Last reviewed: 
30 November 2018