Appendix 3 Workforce Trends

While this appendix briefly summarises APS workforce trends, the June 2020 APS employment data release provides detailed data. Each published report provides current data and data from the previous years. The historical data is often adjusted at this time to pick up information that affects previously reported data. For this reason, the current publication is always the most accurate data source for APS employment data, including for historical data.

APS employment trends

As at 30 June 2020, there were 150,474 employees in the APS, comprising:

132,101 ongoing employees, down by 0.09% from 132,218 ongoing employees in June 2019
18,373 non-ongoing employees, up by 26.2% from 14,564 non-ongoing employees in June 2019.

During 2019-20:

9,646 ongoing employees were engaged, up by 12.73% from 8,557 ongoing engagements in 2019
9,750 ongoing employees separated from the APS, down by 19.49% from 12,110 separations of ongoing employees in 2019.

Job families

The APSC Job Family Model groups functionally similar jobs that perform related tasks and require similar or related skills and knowledge. The model classifies jobs at 3 levels: family, function and role. There are 20 job families, which are broken down into clusters of job functions and further into job roles.

As at 30 June 2020, 34 agencies supplied job family data relating to 124,819 (83.0%) of APS employees.

Engagements and separations

Engagement numbers have fluctuated over the last 10 years, ranging from 12,829 in 2010-11, to 2,367 in 2014-15 and back up to 9,646 in 2019-20.

Tables A3.1 and A3.2 cover ongoing APS engagements by classification and by age group. Table A3.3 covers ongoing APS separations by classification.

Table A3.1: Ongoing APS engagements by classification (2010-11 to 2019-20)
Classification	2010 -11	2011 -12	2012 -13	2013 -14	2014 -15	2015 -16	2016 -17	2017 -18	2018 -19	2019 -20
Trainee	278	299	283	251	130	584	558	641	441	435
Graduate	1 494	1 398	1 237	1 152	1 037	1 435	1 484	1 243	1 199	1 375
APS 1	369	160	130	181	36	47	57	44	47	70
APS 2	707	458	271	281	151	486	456	172	166	183
APS 3	3 048	2 019	1 298	533	247	2 495	1 631	2 088	777	1 493
APS 4	1 767	1 768	1 222	462	142	2 021	1 544	1 522	1 567	1 666
APS 5	1 545	1 600	880	427	157	1 317	1 065	1 071	1 528	1 373
APS 6	1 875	1 832	1 148	673	241	1 321	1 305	1 213	1 633	1 787
EL 1	1 238	1 215	778	467	140	787	685	672	795	848
EL 2	441	437	346	185	58	360	292	268	322	341
SES 1	47	51	44	24	17	157	48	47	57	47
SES 2	16	26	13	12	9	31	17	26	15	25
SES 3	4	9	1	1	2	9	6	6	10	3
Total	12 829	11 272	7 651	4 649	2 367	11 050	9 148	9 013	8 557	9 646

Source: APSED

Table A3.2: Ongoing APS engagements by age group (2010-11 to 2019-20)
Age group (years)	2010 -11	2011 -12	2012 -13	2013 -14	2014 -15	2015 -16	2016 -17	2017 -18	2018 -19	2019 -20
Under 20	231	232	152	108	74	158	169	126	149	139
20-24	2 781	2 368	1 691	1 095	702	2 020	1 811	1 751	1 477	1 761
25-29	2 890	2 481	1 716	1 034	632	2 533	2 101	1 939	1 836	2 098
30-34	1 873	1 624	1 148	674	317	1 796	1 360	1 428	1 286	1 450
35-39	1 378	1 276	838	470	166	1 297	1 001	1 097	1 043	1 210
40-44	1 205	1 134	732	380	163	1 062	873	878	859	934
45-49	1 069	896	553	339	130	893	718	744	773	834
50-54	751	660	420	254	103	685	591	535	560	620
55-59	458	411	278	187	55	425	380	341	372	415
60 and over	193	190	123	108	25	181	144	174	202	185
Total	12 829	11 272	7 651	4 649	2 367	11 050	9 148	9 013	8 557	9 646

Source: APSED

In 2019-20 there were 9,750 ongoing separations (Table A3.3). The number of separations decreased from 12,110 at 30 June 2019. Unlike engagements, separations have remained relatively steady over time.

Table A3.3: Ongoing APS separations by classification (2010-11 to 2019-20)
Classification	2010 -11	2011 -12	2012 -13	2013 -14	2014 -15	2015 -16	2016 -17	2017 -18	2018 -19	2019 -20
Trainee	36	52	40	44	38	59	61	75	120	79
Graduate	85	76	55	60	38	42	60	59	91	114
APS 1	143	135	123	100	85	59	61	69	51	49
APS 2	375	363	315	328	331	279	241	306	246	248
APS 3	1 575	1 452	1 235	1 273	1 139	991	1 190	1 219	1 047	905
APS 4	2 074	1 768	1 627	1 800	1 748	1 554	1 689	1 888	2 225	1 550
APS 5	1 465	1 436	1 354	1 422	1 391	1 285	1 434	1 479	1 786	1 278
APS 6	2 167	2 161	2 052	2 272	2 302	1 911	2 123	2 319	2 886	2 224
EL 1	1 588	1 842	1 736	2 375	2 191	2 275	1 756	1 733	2 226	1 836
EL 2	843	951	931	1 363	1 148	1 082	882	920	1 175	1 238
SES 1	119	130	142	188	170	177	174	159	178	147
SES 2	44	57	47	78	72	70	65	65	64	69
SES 3	14	15	15	13	13	14	20	18	15	13
Total	10 528	10 438	9 672	11 316	10 666	9 798	9 756	10 309	12 110	9 750

Source: APSED

Classification structures

At June 30 2020, the most commonly engaged classification was at the APS 6 level. This continues the trend of the last decade since APS 6 became the most common classification in 2011.

Table A3.4: Number of APS employees by base classification at 30 June (2011 to 2020)
Classification	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Trainee	311	367	356	346	221	581	618	764	564	544
Graduate	1 595	1 528	1 413	1 318	1 196	1 571	1 685	1 485	1 447	1 618
APS 1	2 692	4 010	5 262	4 945	4 351	3 899	2 904	2 679	2 852	2 247
APS 2	6 282	5 994	5 224	5 071	4 671	5 002	4 603	4 701	4 413	6 272
APS 3	22 477	20 909	20 468	19 203	19 400	20 765	18 423	17 215	15 334	15 823
APS 4	32 211	32 010	31 856	30 707	30 638	30 578	29 497	29 481	28 096	27 287
APS 5	22 181	22 547	22 243	21 241	20 672	20 932	21 234	20 848	20 578	21 118
APS 6	33 150	33 905	33 679	32 406	31 247	32 669	33 121	32 975	32 974	33 997
EL 1	28 443	29 539	29 308	27 568	25 852	25 485	25 544	25 661	26 022	26 946
EL 2	13 367	13 702	13 552	12 543	11 523	11 488	11 665	11 753	11 728	11 817
SES 1	2 033	2 096	2 055	1 919	1 822	1 965	1 978	2 024	2 051	2 069
SES 2	586	592	598	552	531	544	559	555	583	603
SES 3	144	140	132	121	116	125	120	126	140	133
Total	165 472	167 339	166 146	157 940	152 240	155 604	151 951	150 267	146 782	150 474

Source: APSED

Age profile

Between June 2019 and June 2020 the average age of APS employees dropped from 43.6 to 43.5 years. Most APS employees are still aged between 35 and 55 however in the last year the proportion of employees under 30 and over 60 increased while the proportion of those between 30 and 60 decreased slightly (Table A3.5).

Table A3.5: Number of APS employees by age group at 30 June (2011 to 2020)
Age group (years)	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Under 20	635	659	725	469	457	578	407	456	431	569
20-24	8 208	7 730	7 042	5 643	5 238	5 883	5 507	5 527	5 309	6 305
25-29	19 318	18 889	18 050	15 834	14 392	14 320	13 649	12 944	12 587	13 147
30-34	21 410	21 895	21 984	21 030	20 149	20 263	19 181	18 437	17 219	17 061
35-39	22 336	22 221	21 897	21 144	20 588	21 305	21 257	21 126	20 680	20 979
40-44	22 555	23 088	23 136	22 438	22 086	21 981	21 282	20 852	20 755	20 984
45-49	23 973	23 460	22 840	21 837	21 059	21 704	21 787	21 905	21 708	22 012
50-54	23 245	23 860	24 036	23 184	22 353	22 174	21 262	20 635	19 977	20 153
55-59	14 759	15 330	15 664	15 582	15 410	16 168	16 361	16 700	16 407	16 764
60 and over	9 033	10 207	10 772	10 779	10 508	11 228	11 258	11 685	11 709	12 500
Total	165 472	167 339	166 146	157 940	152 240	155 604	151 951	150 267	146 782	150 474

Source: APSED

The age of APS employees generally increases with seniority with the exception of APS 1 employees.

APS 1 employees are considerably older on average than all classifications below EL 2. The average age of women at the APS 1 classification (48.1 years) was only younger than that of SES Band 2 and 3. In general, men at the APS 6 classification and above are older than women at the same level.

Gender

The gender profile of the APS has been skewed towards women since 1999, when they became the majority of employees. However, in the last 10 years the proportion of women has grown from 57.7% to 60.0% (Table A3.6).

Table A3.6: Gender representation in the APS at 30 June (2011 to 2020)
Gender	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Men	70 026	70 793	69 861	66 215	63 225	63 703	62 292	61 498	59 173	60 127
Women	95 427	96 525	96 261	91 699	88 988	91 872	89 630	88 720	87 536	90 235
X	.	.	.	.	.	.	29	49	73	112
Total	165 472	167 339	166 146	157 940	152 240	155 604	151 951	150 267	146 782	150 474

Source: APSED

There remains a lower proportion of women at EL 2 and SES levels compared to men. However, the numbers at these levels continue to rise (Table A3.7).

Table A3.7: Gender representation by classification at 30 June (2011 to 2020)
Classification	Gender	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Trainee	Men	139	187	146	152	112	275	321	406	252	250
Trainee	Women	172	180	210	194	109	306	297	356	312	293
Graduate	Men	794	778	657	677	628	792	831	753	743	826
Graduate	Women	801	750	755	641	568	779	853	731	700	789
APS 1	Men	989	1 332	1 833	1 728	1 453	1 220	968	897	911	730
APS 1	Women	1 703	2 678	3 429	3 217	2 898	2 679	1 936	1 782	1 940	1 514
APS 2	Men	2 127	2 226	1 948	1 930	1 802	1 976	1 835	1 866	1 745	2 435
APS 2	Women	4 153	3 767	3 275	3 141	2 869	3 026	2 768	2 833	2 664	3 833
APS 3	Men	7 833	7 078	6 908	6 442	6 506	7 001	6 237	5 829	5 261	5 337
APS 3	Women	14 643	13 829	13 557	12 757	12 890	13 759	12 181	11 372	10 047	10 448
APS 4	Men	9 717	9 781	9 920	9 553	9 574	9 387	9 058	9 182	8 727	8 497
APS 4	Women	22 490	22 223	21 931	21 147	21 056	21 184	20 431	20 284	19 356	18 769
APS 5	Men	9 195	9 252	9 059	8 604	8 321	8 341	8 382	8 171	7 900	7 953
APS 5	Women	12 984	13 293	13 182	12 635	12 349	12 589	12 852	12 675	12 669	13 149
APS 6	Men	14 882	15 259	15 041	14 461	13 825	14 267	14 242	14 088	13 710	14 115
APS 6	Women	18 263	18 642	18 633	17 940	17 417	18 396	18 873	18 882	19 257	19 869
EL 1	Men	14 596	15 021	14 732	13 854	12 902	12 516	12 470	12 431	12 289	12 488
EL 1	Women	13 843	14 513	14 570	13 707	12 943	12 962	13 067	13 223	13 725	14 447
EL 2	Men	8 033	8 155	7 930	7 259	6 637	6 419	6 436	6 380	6 148	6 039
EL 2	Women	5 334	5 547	5 622	5 284	4 886	5 068	5 228	5 373	5 580	5 778
SES 1	Men	1 239	1 253	1 213	1 119	1 054	1 090	1 101	1 080	1 054	1 035
SES 1	Women	793	842	841	799	767	874	877	944	997	1 033
SES 2	Men	379	371	381	352	337	339	341	341	354	349
SES 2	Women	207	221	217	200	194	205	217	213	228	253
SES 3	Men	103	100	93	84	74	80	70	74	79	73
SES 3	Women	41	40	39	37	42	45	50	52	61	60

Source: APSED

Table A3.8 presents the proportion of APS employees belonging to each diversity group.

Table A3.8: Proportion of APS employees by diversity group (2011 to 2020)
Diversity group	2011 (%)	2012 (%)	2013 (%)	2014 (%)	2015 (%)	2016 (%)	2017 (%)	2018 (%)	2019 (%)	2020 (%)
Women	57.7	57.7	57.9	58.1	58.5	59.0	59.0	59.0	59.6	60.0
Indigenous	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.8	2.9	3.2	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.5
People with disability	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.6	3.7	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0
Non-English speaking background	14.2	14.5	14.5	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.3

Source: APSED

Appendix 3 Workforce Trends

APS employment trends

Job families

Engagements and separations

Classification structures

Age profile

Gender

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