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Chapter 2: Statistical snapshot
This chapter explores current demographic and labour force patterns of staff covered by the PS Act. The main source of data is the APS Employment Database (APSED), maintained by the APS Commission.1 APSED contains information about recruitment, separation, mobility and diversity for all ongoing and nonongoing APS employees.2 Further information on the size and composition of the APS can be found in the Australian Public Service Statistical Bulletin 2002–03.3
The structure of the APS has changed considerably over the past decade. A period of restructure and reduction in size and function has been followed by recent significant growth. As well, there have been changes in the profile of the workforce, with fewer unskilled jobs, an ageing workforce and an increasing proportion of women (though still concentrated in the lower classifications). These latter trends have been evident for some years, and are likely to persist.
1 While every effort is taken to ensure data integrity, the APS Commission cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in the data supplied. The APS Commission undertakes extensive audits of the data provided by agencies, and as a result of these audits, the APS Commission is able to correct errors in historical data. For this reason, some caution should be exercised when comparing the data presented in this volume with those from previous years. Most significantly, previously published data on ongoing staff may have been revised and therefore may not be directly comparable. Due to different data sources and data definitions, there may be variations between the data published here and those published by individual agencies.
2 SES data in this chapter include employees who are not in SES positions, but who receive a similar level of remuneration.
3 Conceptual definitions used in workforce analysis are set out in the Introduction and Explanatory Notes to the APS Statistical Bulletin.