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› Size of the APS › Diversity trends › Ongoing and non-ongoing employees › Part-time employees › Classification structures › Mobility within the APS › Age profile › Length of service › Location › Engagements and separations › Demography of the SES leadership group
Demography of the SES leadership group
The SES constitutes the senior management and leadership group of the APS, and comprised 1.6% of total ongoing APS employment at June 2005.13 This was a very slight increase, compared with the previous year.14 The size of the SES has fluctuated over the past decade, decreasing from 1766 in 1996 to 1561 in 1998. The number at June 2005, 2025, is the largest since the SES was established in 1984. Band 1 SES employees make up the largest proportion at 75.5% of all ongoing SES employees, Band 2 comprise 19.9% and Band 3 comprise 4.7%. Most of the growth in the SES this year was at Band 1 which grew by 102 or 7.2%. The agencies with the largest net increases in Band 1 employees were ATO (up by 34 or 20.2%), DEWR (up by 33 or 73.3%) and DIMIA (up by 16 or 39.0%). The net increase of 33 SES Band 1s in DEWR consisted of 44 new Band 1s and 11 who left or were promoted. Of the 44, 23 were promoted within the department, and nine transferred in due to machinery of government changes. For DIMIA, eight were transferred in due to machinery of government changes and there was one internal promotion.
The proportion of women in the SES has increased steadily over the past decade, from 19.3% in 1996 to 33.0% in 2005. As is the case for the overall APS, women are concentrated at lower levels: 81.3% of SES women are at Band 1 compared with 72.6% of men, 15.7% are at Band 2 compared with 21.9% of men, and 3.0% are at Band 3 compared with 5.5% of men.
Figure 2.21 shows the changing age profile for the SES over the past 10 years. The shift indicates an ageing of the SES workforce, consistent with the ageing of the APS overall. Since 1996, the proportion of ongoing SES employees aged less than 45 years has fallen from 32.8% to 28.1%, while the proportion aged over 50 years has risen from 34.9% to 43.9%.
Figure 2.21: Age profile for ongoing SES employees, 1996 and 2005
Source: APSED
The age profile for female SES is younger than for males: 35.8% of female SES are aged less than 45 years compared with 24.3% of male SES.
Table 2.4 indicates that over one-third of SES Band 1s (38.5%) are aged 50 years or over. For Band 2s, over half are in that age group (55.5%). Band 3s have an even older age profile, with over three quarters (80.0%) being over 50. Currently, 78 SES employees (comprising 3.9% of the SES cohort) are aged 60 and over. This compares with 61 or 3.2% at June 2004.
In line with their younger age profile, women comprise a substantially lower proportion of the SES in older age groups.
Table 2.4: Ongoing SES employees by age group, sex and level, June 2005
| SES 1 | SES 2 | SES 3 | Total | % who are female | ||||||||
| M | F | Total | M | F | Total | M | F | Total | No. | % | ||
| 30-34 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1.9 | 34.2 |
| 35-39 | 89 | 64 | 153 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162 | 8.0 | 40.7 |
| 40-44 | 172 | 133 | 305 | 31 | 25 | 56 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 369 | 18.2 | 43.4 |
| 45-49 | 293 | 151 | 444 | 77 | 36 | 113 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 568 | 28.0 | 33.6 |
| 50-54 | 250 | 127 | 377 | 91 | 23 | 114 | 30 | 9 | 39 | 530 | 26.2 | 30.0 |
| 55-59 | 124 | 49 | 173 | 65 | 15 | 80 | 24 | 3 | 27 | 280 | 13.8 | 23.9 |
| 60 & Over | 33 | 6 | 39 | 25 | 4 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 78 | 3.9 | 15.4 |
| Total | 985 | 543 | 1528 | 297 | 105 | 402 | 75 | 20 | 95 | 2025 | 100.0 | 33.0 |
Source: APSED
13 Data for the SES includes employees grouped with the equivalent SES bands under the Public Service Classification Rules 2000. Data also includes inoperative SES.
14 The increase was from 1.55% to 1.64%, and when rounded to one decimal place there is no change.
