Chapter 1: Introduction
Purpose
The Australian Public Service (APS) Remuneration Report provides an annual snapshot of remuneration across the APS. The purpose of the report is to document remuneration trends based on data collected from APS agencies as at 31 December 2021. The report is available in HTML and PDF versions and can be downloaded from the Australian Public Service Commission’s (APSC) website at:
www.apsc.gov.au/remuneration-reports
Employees included in this report
The APS Remuneration Report covers employees engaged under the Public Service Act 1999, including Graduate employees.
Irregular and intermittent (casual) employees, locally-engaged overseas staff, employees on leave without pay and those classified as Trainees or Cadets are excluded. Agency Heads and public office holders are also excluded as their remuneration is set by the Remuneration Tribunal.
Valid data for the 2021 report was received for 143,110 APS employees.[1] This includes 2,859 Senior Executive Service (SES) employees and 140,251 non-SES employees. Total headcount increased by 6,382 (or 4.7%) compared to December 2020 when it was 136,728. This is in line with the increase in APS headcount reported in the 31 December 2021 APS Employment Data Release, which is available from the APSC website:
https://www.apsc.gov.au/employment-data/aps-employment-data-31-december-2021
Executive Remuneration Management Policy
The APS Executive Remuneration Management Policy provides that total remuneration should not exceed 65% of the lowest pay point of the Secretaries structure. The policy applies to all classifications. For details see: https://www.apsc.gov.au/publication/executive-remuneration-management-policy
The APS Commissioner can approve remuneration above this point where compelling circumstances apply.
APS Classifications
This report presents remuneration data using the classification system outlined in the Public Service Classification Rules 2000:
www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2014C01338
A number of agencies use ‘local’ classifications in addition to the approved APS classifications. Remuneration data for local classifications has been assigned to the corresponding APS classification for the purposes of this report.
Australian Government remuneration policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
In 2020, the Australian Government introduced policies to defer remuneration increases across the Commonwealth public sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A suspension that had been placed on SES remuneration increases was lifted on 25 June 2021. The suspension had applied to general wage increases and, where applicable, performance-based increment progression plus payment of discretionary SES bonuses.
The Australian Government’s 2020 decision to defer non-SES general wage increases by six months from the scheduled date of the increase remained in effect until all agencies had applied a six-month deferral. By 31 December 2021 all agencies covered in this report had implemented the decision.
Workplace Relations Policies
APS agencies negotiate their own workplace arrangements within a policy framework established by the Australian Government. During the coverage period of this report, workplace relations policies[2] allowed for remuneration increases up to an average of 2% per annum in continuing employment instruments or remuneration adjustments capped in line with the Wage Price Index (WPI) for the Private Sector in new employment instruments. The relevant WPI caps that applied during 2021 were 1.7% and 1.9%.
Performance Bonuses
The Australian Government published the Performance Bonus Guidance – Principles governing performance bonus use in Commonwealth entities and companies (the guidance) on 13 August 2021. The reporting of performance bonuses was changed to align with the definition used in the guidance, that is, payments that are genuinely ‘at risk’ and variable based on performance. Fixed payments made to employees at the top of their salary range in lieu of increment progression, which had previously been reported as performance bonuses, were reported separately for 2021.
[1] Headcount used in this report is based on data from the APS Remuneration Survey which differs from APS Employment Database data due to a different collection scope.
[2] During the coverage period of this report, pre-existing employment instruments continued to operate under a policy framework established by the Workplace Bargaining Policy 2018 which allowed for average remuneration increases of up to 2% per annum. New employment instruments operated under a policy framework established by the Public Sector Workplace Relations Policy 2020, which allowed for general remuneration adjustments capped in line with the year-to-June WPI for the Private Sector. Depending on when the new instruments were established, agencies could provide general remuneration adjustments of up to 1.7% (June 2020 WPI) or 1.9% (June 2021 WPI).