APS employment of people with disability

The Australian Public Service Disability Employment Strategy 2020–25 aims to increase the employment of people with disability to 7% by 2025. It aligns with the national Disability Strategy’s Employment Targeted Action Plan.

APS agencies collect information on disability from employees in their human resources information systems, which they then report to the Australian Public Service Commission’s centralised APS Employment Database. Figure 9.21 shows APS employees with a disability in selected agencies as at 30 June 2023.

Figure 9.21: Employees with disability by agency (at 30 June 2023)

A column graph displaying the proportion of employees with disability in various APS agencies, at 30 June 2023, as recorded in employment data. The Australian Public Service Commission has the highest proportion at 9.3%. The Department of Home Affairs has the lowest proportion, at 2.7%.

Source: APSED

As disability status is not mandatory to report, there are some employee records with no disability status in agencies’ workforce figures. The number of records with no disability status for some large agencies suggests that the true proportion of employees with a disability in the APS is likely higher than reported figures indicate. Figure 9.22 shows proportion of employees with no disability status recorded in selected agencies as at 30 June 2023.

Figure 9.22: No data for disability status by agency (at 30 June 2023)

A column graph displaying the proportion of employees for whom there is no data recorded for disability status in various APS agencies. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has the highest proportion at 52.9%. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has the lowest proportion at 0.3%

Source: APSED

Note: 'No data' includes where employees have selected a 'Choose not to give' option for disability status, or where no disability status data is recorded.

The APS Disability Employment Strategy seeks to continue to increase the employment of employees with disability in APS agencies over the coming 2 years.

Enhancing data quality requires ongoing action to address barriers to reporting. This includes:

  • articulating to APS employees the benefit of accurate data, and demonstrating the relevance of this information to their employment
  • assuring employees that their reported disability status will remain confidential and not be used by employers in any discriminatory or otherwise negative way
  • reviewing human resource information systems and processes to optimise data collection and reporting.

See also

APS profile – APS employees with disability, State of the Service Report 2022–23.

Appendix 2 – State of the service additional data, State of the Service Report 2022–23.

Australian Government (n.d.) APS Employment Data 30 June 2023 (Table 82), APSC website, https://www.apsc.gov.au/employment-data/aps-employment-data-30-june-2023, accessed 5 October 2023.

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