2020-21 State of the Service Report

Today, the Australian Public Service Commissioner, Mr Peter Woolcott AO, released the annual State of the Service Report after its tabling in Parliament.

This year’s report shares how the Australian Public Service (APS) has worked through the economic, social and health challenges of 2020-21, and how it is preparing for the future. 

The APS has done well these last 12 months.

“One of the successes of this period has been how APS employees, regardless of agency or role, have worked together where there was greatest need,” said Mr Woolcott.

“The changing mindset – from individual agencies to one-enterprise – is critical for us going forward.”

In 2021, the new permanent APS Surge Reserve mobilised more than 3,000 employees to areas of highest need to deliver the Government’s response to COVID-19.

APS employee engagement remains strong. Nine out of 10 employees see how their role contributes to delivering results for the Australian people. Case studies demonstrate the diverse work of the APS – from sourcing critical ventilators to delivering Australia’s most accessible census.

The report highlights how the first whole-of-APS workforce strategy – APS Workforce Strategy: Delivering for Tomorrow, the APS Learning and Development Action Plan, the APS Academy and APS Professions are pulling the threads together to build the capability necessary to meet the complex challenges of the future.

The report presents an overview of the composition of the APS workforce, with more than 153,000 employees (up 2.3 per cent from June 2020), mostly located outside of Canberra.

“It is important that the APS reflects the diversity of the Australian Community,” said Mr Woolcott.

For the first time women in the APS have reached and, in most cases exceeded parity with men at every level up to and including the collective Senior Executive cohort. However, representation of people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from non-English speaking backgrounds has remained relatively static over past years.

“While much has been achieved, there is more work to be done – I want inclusion and diversity to be a part of everything that we do,” said Mr Woolcott.

“I am confident that if we continue to operate as one-APS, grow the skills and knowledge of our people, promote an inclusive culture and welcome new and diverse talent, we will be well placed to meet the needs of Australian Government and people.”

The State of the Service Report provides transparency to the Australian people and the Parliament about what the APS looks like, and how it is delivering on the Government’s priorities to meet the needs of individuals and communities.

More information about the APS workforce is also available through the APS Employee Census 2021. Individual agency reports are available on agency websites from 30 November 2021 and a de-identified Census dataset will also be available on data.gov.au.

Visit our website to read the full State of the Service Report.

For further information, contact media@apsc.gov.au