26 September 2023

APSC reports on the State of the Service

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The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has published the latest State of the Service report highlighting the need for the Australian Public Service (APS) to continue to expand its reform agenda to produce a more efficient and effective Service into the future.

The State of the Service Report 2018-2019 covers data obtained from the annual Agency Survey and employee census as well as the APS employment database.

For the first time this year many Agencies are to release their employee census results – with over 75 per cent proposing to make their figures public.

The SOS Report reveals that the size of the APS workforce dropped 2.1 per cent in 2018-19, ending the year with a total employee headcount of 147,237.

It found that despite the fewer numbers, APS staff were more engaged than ever before with the Service-wide engagement index scoring 72 per cent, an increase of two percentage points on last year.

It also found job positivity rated at 91 per cent of employees and 99 per cent of SES staff saying they were “happy to go the extra mile at work”.

The Report also found that APS capability remained high, but ongoing investment was needed to ensure employees have the skills and knowledge required for the future.

It found progress on workplace diversity in the APS with 3.5 per cent of employees identifying as Indigenous, 3.7 per cent with an ongoing disability and 4.8 per cent identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and/or Intersex (LGBTI).

The Report revealed that women now held 46.3 per cent of SES roles, an increase on the 2015 figure of 41.8 per cent, with the highest proportion of women in the APS employed at the APS 4 and APS 6 classifications.

Mobility across the APS remained low at just 3.6 per cent of employees for 2018-2019, with the majority of movement taking place in the ACT and within policy Agencies.

Addressing capability gaps across the APS, 52 per cent of APS and 70 per cent of SES staff said they believed a capability gap existed in their workgroup.

The most commonly reported gaps related to people management and leadership, data capability and written communication.

The 206-page State of the Service Report 2018-19 can be accessed at this PS News link.

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