Appendix 3: APS workforce trends

Contents

This appendix summarises some overall trends in APS employment for 2018–19, and over the past 10 years. The primary source of data is the APSED.

While this appendix briefly summarises APS workforce trends, the June 2019 APS employment data release¹⁰⁹ 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 2019, there were 147,237 employees in the APS, comprising:

132,192 ongoing employees, down by 2.9 per cent from 136,158 ongoing employees in June 2018
15,045 non-ongoing employees, up by 5.7 per cent from 14,237 non-ongoing employees in June 2018.

During 2018–19:

8,564 ongoing employees were engaged, down by 4.9 per cent from 9,005 ongoing engagements in 2018
12,100 ongoing employees separated from the APS, up by 17.4 per cent from 10,307 separations of ongoing employees in 2018.

Engagements and separations

Engagement numbers have fluctuated over the last 10 years, ranging from 2,366 in 2014–15 to 12,828 in 2010–11. 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, 2009–10 to 2018–19**
Classification	2019–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Trainee	196	278	299	283	251	130	584	557	628	415
Graduate	1 225	1 494	1 398	1 237	1 152	1 037	1 434	1 483	1 238	1 175
APS 1	194	369	160	130	181	36	47	57	44	60
APS 2	429	707	458	271	281	151	486	457	182	177
APS 3	2 341	3 048	2 019	1 297	533	247	2 494	1 630	2 091	796
APS 4	1 322	1 767	1 768	1 222	462	141	2 019	1 544	1 518	1 573
APS 5	1 258	1 545	1 600	879	427	157	1 315	1 059	1 080	1 522
APS 6	1 665	1 875	1 832	1 148	673	241	1 320	1 302	1 205	1 633
EL 1	1 153	1 237	1 215	777	467	140	783	683	669	800
EL 2	466	441	437	346	185	57	358	294	271	324
SES 1	46	47	51	44	24	17	157	48	47	59
SES 2	25	16	26	13	12	10	31	17	26	19
SES 3	3	4	9	1	1	2	9	6	6	11
Total	10 323	12 828	11 272	7 648	4 649	2 366	11 037	9 137	9 005	8 564

Source: APSED

**Table A3.2: Ongoing APS engagements by age group, 2009–10 to 2018–19**
Age group (years)	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Under 20	187	231	232	152	108	74	158	169	126	150
20–24	2 229	2 781	2 368	1 689	1 095	702	2 019	1 809	1 749	1 475
25–29	2 398	2 889	2 481	1 716	1 034	632	2 529	2 100	1 935	1 832
30–34	1 489	1 873	1 624	1 148	674	317	1 796	1 356	1 429	1 289
35–39	1 164	1 378	1 276	838	470	166	1 294	1 000	1 097	1 041
40–44	946	1 205	1 134	732	380	163	1 061	871	878	862
45–49	793	1 069	896	553	339	130	892	716	741	779
50–54	566	751	660	419	254	102	684	592	536	565
55–59	418	458	411	278	187	55	424	380	340	375
60 and over	133	193	190	123	108	25	180	144	174	196
Total	10 323	12 828	11 272	7 648	4 649	2 366	11 037	9 137	9 005	8 564

Source: APSED

In 2018–19 there were 12,100 ongoing separations (Table A3.3). The number of separations increased from 9,756 at 30 June 2017. Unlike engagements, separations have remained relatively steady over time.

**Table A3.3: Ongoing APS separations by classification, 2009–10 to 2018–19**
Classification	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Trainee	26	36	52	40	44	38	59	61	75	119
Graduate	67	85	76	55	60	38	42	60	59	92
APS 1	137	143	135	123	100	85	59	61	69	51
APS 2	366	375	363	315	328	331	279	241	306	246
APS 3	1 837	1 575	1 452	1 235	1 273	1 139	991	1 190	1 219	1 047
APS 4	1 805	2 074	1 768	1 627	1 800	1 748	1 554	1 689	1 887	2 219
APS 5	1 259	1 465	1 436	1 354	1 422	1 391	1 285	1 434	1 479	1 785
APS 6	1 818	2 167	2 161	2 052	2 272	2 302	1 911	2 123	2 318	2 885
EL 1	1 467	1 588	1 842	1 736	2 375	2 191	2 275	1 756	1 733	2 224
EL 2	821	843	951	931	1 363	1 147	1 082	882	920	1 172
SES 1	129	119	130	142	188	170	178	174	159	179
SES 2	33	44	57	47	78	72	71	65	65	66
SES 3	11	14	15	15	13	13	14	20	18	15
Total	9 776	10 528	10 438	9 672	11 316	10 665	9 800	9 756	10 307	12 100

Source: APSED

Classification structures

At 30 June 2019, almost one-quarter of all APS employees were engaged at the APS 6 level. This continues a trend that began in 2011 after a lengthy period of the APS 4 level being the most common (Table A3.4).

**Table A3.4: Number of APS employees by base classification at 30 June 2010 to 2019**
Classification	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Trainee	267	311	367	356	346	221	581	617	752	547
Grad	1 294	1 595	1 528	1 413	1 318	1 196	1 570	1 683	1 480	1 430
APS 1	2 944	2 692	4 010	5 262	4 945	4 351	3 899	2 907	2 795	3 203
APS 2	6 497	6 282	5 994	5 224	5 071	4 671	5 002	4 605	4 713	4 464
APS 3	24 115	22 477	20 909	20 468	19 204	19 401	20 767	18 426	17 223	15 433
APS 4	32 742	32 211	32 010	31 856	30 706	30 638	30 578	29 496	29 491	28 099
APS 5	21 571	22 181	22 547	22 243	21 241	20 671	20 932	21 231	20 845	20 584
APS 6	31 955	33 149	33 904	33 678	32 405	31 246	32 668	33 118	32 970	32 963
EL 1	26 846	28 443	29 539	29 308	27 568	25 852	25 485	25 546	25 661	26 009
EL 2	12 859	13 367	13 702	13 552	12 543	11 523	11 488	11 669	11 760	11 725
SES 1	1 986	2 033	2 096	2 055	1 919	1 822	1 964	1 977	2 023	2 051
SES 2	576	586	592	598	552	532	544	560	557	587
SES 3	137	144	140	132	121	116	125	119	125	142
Total	163 789	165 471	167 338	166 145	157 939	152 240	155 603	151 954	150 395	147 237

Source: APSED

Age profile

The average age of APS employees has increased steadily in the last decade. This mirrors the trend seen across the general Australian population and its workforce.

The proportion of the APS population aged 50 years of age or over has slightly increased, while the proportion of employees under the age of 30 has declined (Table A3.5).

**Table A3.5: Number of APS employees by age group at 30 June 2010 to 2019**
Age group (years)	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Under 20	718	635	659	726	470	457	578	407	456	433
20–24	8 618	8 208	7 730	7 041	5 642	5 239	5 885	5 507	5 530	5 332
25–29	19 245	19 318	18 888	18 050	15 834	14 392	14 318	13 648	12 947	12 619
30–34	20 754	21 408	21 893	21 983	21 029	20 148	20 265	19 181	18 440	17 241
35–39	22 914	22 336	22 223	21 899	21 145	20 588	21 303	21 255	21 126	20 708
40–44	22 091	22 558	23 090	23 136	22 438	22 086	21 979	21 283	20 857	20 791
45–49	24 318	23 972	23 459	22 839	21 837	21 061	21 708	21 789	21 908	21 731
50–54	22 682	23 245	23 860	24 036	23 184	22 352	22 172	21 261	20 640	20 014
55–59	14 125	14 758	15 329	15 664	15 582	15 410	16 168	16 362	16 723	16 479
60 and over	8 324	9 033	10 207	10 771	10 778	10 507	11 227	11 261	11 768	11 889
Total	163 789	165 471	167 338	166 145	157 939	152 240	155 603	151 954	150 395	147 237

Source: APSED

Gender

The gender profile of the APS has been skewed towards females since 1999, when they became the majority of employees. However, in the last 10 years the proportion of female employees has grown from 57.8 per cent to 59.6 per cent (Table A3.6).

**Table A3.6: Gender representation in the APS at 30 June 2010 to 2019**
Gender	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Men	69 079	70 029	70 797	69 865	66 221	63 231	63 709	62 297	61 560	59 337
Women	94 694	95 426	96 523	96 258	91 694	88 984	91 867	89 630	88 787	87 826
Gender X	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	27	48	74

Source: APSED

Gender profile by classification

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

**Table A3.7: Gender representation by classification at 30 June 2010 to 2019**
Class.	Gender	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Trainee	Men	126	139	187	146	153	113	275	320	401	250
Trainee	Women	141	172	180	210	193	108	306	297	348	296
Grad	Men	616	793	778	657	678	628	791	830	748	739
Grad	Women	678	802	750	754	640	568	779	852	731	688
APS 1	Men	970	989	1 332	1 833	1 728	1 453	1 220	967	944	1 003
APS 1	Women	1 974	1 703	2 678	3 429	3 217	2 898	2 679	1 940	1 851	2 199
APS 2	Men	2 186	2 127	2 226	1 948	1 930	1 802	1 977	1 837	1 875	1 774
APS 2	Women	4 309	4 153	3 767	3 275	3 141	2 869	3 025	2 768	2 836	2 686
APS 3	Men	8 347	7 834	7 079	6 908	6 442	6 506	7 002	6 239	5 832	5 300
APS 3	Women	15 767	14 642	13 828	13 557	12 757	12 890	13 760	12 181	11 377	10 103
APS 4	Men	9 994	9 717	9 780	9 920	9 553	9 576	9 389	9 059	9 192	8 737
APS 4	Women	22 742	22 489	22 223	21 930	21 145	21 053	21 181	20 429	20 283	19 348
APS 5	Men	8 988	9 195	9 254	9 060	8 605	8 321	8 342	8 382	8 169	7 905
APS 5	Women	12 582	12 984	13 292	13 181	12 634	12 348	12 588	12 849	12 674	1 2671
APS 6	Men	14 447	14 884	15 259	15 041	14 461	13 825	14 268	14 243	14 089	13 714
APS 6	Women	17 504	18 261	18 640	18 632	17 939	17 416	18 394	18 869	18 876	19 241
EL 1	Men	13 833	14 597	15 023	14 735	13 857	12 905	12 518	12 472	12 434	12 286
EL 1	Women	13 011	13 844	14 514	14 570	13 707	12 943	12 962	13 069	13 222	13 718
EL 2	Men	7 858	8 033	8 155	7 930	7 259	6 637	6 419	6 437	6 381	6 136
EL 2	Women	5 001	5 334	5 547	5 622	5 284	4 886	5 068	5 231	5 379	5 589
SES 1	Men	1 231	1 239	1 253	1 213	1 119	1 054	1 089	1 100	1 080	1 058
SES 1	Women	755	794	843	842	800	768	875	877	943	993
SES 2	Men	380	379	371	381	352	337	339	342	342	355
SES 2	Women	196	207	221	217	200	195	205	218	215	232
SES 3	Men	103	103	100	93	84	74	80	69	73	80
SES 3	Women	34	41	40	39	37	42	45	50	52	62

Source: APSED

Note: Data for employees identifying as Gender X was collected, however numbers are too small to be reported.

Appendix 3: APS workforce trends

APS employment trends

Engagements and separations

Classification structures

Age profile

Gender

Gender profile by classification

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