Part-time employees

At June 2005, 11.3% of ongoing employees were working part-time. This continued the long-term trend towards part-time employment. While part-time work has been growing in the APS, its incidence is well below that for equivalent occupations in the broader public sector (31%) and the private sector (33%).⁵

Women are still much more likely to work part-time, with 18.0% of women employed part-time compared with 3.3% of men. This year was the first for some time where there was a greater proportional increase in the number of ongoing women working part-time (11.9%) than of men (11.7%), although the difference was very slight. These trends are shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6: Proportion of ongoing employees working part-time by sex, 1996 to 2005

Source: APSED

During 2004–05, there was actually a decline in the number of ongoing employees working full-time—a drop from 109,889 to 109,350 (or 0.5%).

Female non-ongoing employees are more likely to work part-time than any other group, with over one quarter (26.7%) of non-ongoing women working part-time. For non-ongoing men the proportion was 19.1%. Overall, 23.9% of non-ongoing employees were working part-time at June 2005.

Part-time employment for both ongoing and non-ongoing employees is concentrated at lower classification levels, for both men and women.

Centrelink continues to be the largest employer of part-time employees in the APS employing 36.3% of all part-time ongoing employees at June 2005. This group accounted for 20.7% of Centrelink’s ongoing employees. Centrelink accounted for most of the growth in part-time employment with 869 more ongoing part-time employees out of an overall increase in the APS of 1476.

Part-time work by age

Part-time work for women is highest in the 30–44 age group, with 24.5% of ongoing women in this age group working part-time. The proportion is much lower for men in this age group (3.7%) but still somewhat higher than the overall male average of 3.3%. Older workers (i.e. those aged 45 years and over) are less likely to work part-time, with only 2.8% of men aged 45 years and over working part-time, and 13.0% of women. Older workers, however, are more likely to work part-time as they get older (as shown in Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.7: Proportion of ongoing employees working part-time by age group and sex, June 2005

Source: APSED

The trend towards part-time employment for older workers, highlighted in last year’s report, has continued. During 2004–05, the proportion of ongoing employees aged over 60 who were working part-time rose from 7.1% to 8.2%. This trend suggests a growing awareness within agencies of the importance of providing more flexible working arrangements for older workers.

5 ABS 2002, Census of Population and Housing 2001, ABS, Canberra.

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