State of the Service Report Key Findings

The Commissioner’s State of the Service Report 2002—03 was tabled in Parliament on 27 November 2003. Drawing on agency-based survey results and, for the first time, APS employee survey results, the Public Service Commissioner highlighted a number of critical challenges facing the APS in his Report:

1. Building APS Capability–ensuring there is a strong pool available to take on leadership roles into the future, both in the short to medium term and through deliberate capability building for the longer term.

SOSR data showed

  • a continuing trend towards an older and more skilled workforce, with a continuing fall in APS1/2 recruitment and a high proportion of recruits with tertiary qualifications.
  • The ageing of the APS workforce was identified as an increasing concern. Staff in the 45 and over age group, who will be eligible for retirement within the next ten years, account for over a third of ongoing employees (37.6%).

2. Diversity–Actively addressing diversity, both to improve APS capability and performance, and to overcome emerging concerns about employment in the APS, particularly of Indigenous Australians, people with a disability and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

SOSR data showed that:

  • Increased employment of women at senior levels. Women comprise 37.8% of executive and 30.4% of senior executive APS employees.
  • The decline in employment of people with a disability has continued, with a large fall in representation over the last decade
  • Indigenous employment has stalled, (falling from 2.5% in June 2002 to 2.4% in June 2003) following a peak of 2.7%in 1998
  • NESB employment has fallen slightly in percentage terms (from 3.4% in June 2002 to 3.3% in June 2003).

3. Performance Management–Getting more from an organisation through more effective workforce planning, performance management (particularly around rewards and handling underperformance), and linking this to more structured learning and development.

SOSR employee survey results showed that while employees are generally positive about performance management, there is widespread unease amongst employees about how performance is rewarded.

  • 40% of employees agreed that the performance pay system in their agency operated fairly and consistently and 31% disagreed.

4. Relations with Minister and their Offices–Ensuring an effective relationship between the APS and the Government and the Parliament, recognising the need to support the wider range of employees involved to meet their obligations of responsiveness, open accountability and apolitical professionalism and impartiality.

SOSR employee survey results showed that a substantial proportion of APS employees (26%) had been in contact with Ministers and their advisers in the previous two years.

  • The proportion is highest for SES officers (88%) but the proportion of EL employees (47%) and APS 1—6 employees (20%) are both significantly larger than expected.

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