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 2022.

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 2022 report was received for 149,656 APS employees.[3] This includes 3,001 Senior Executive Service (SES) employees and 146,655 non-SES employees. Total headcount increased by 6,546 (or 4.6%) compared to December 2021 when it was 143,110. This is in line with the increase in APS headcount reported in the 31 December 2022 APS Employment Data Release.

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. See here for details.

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.

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.

Workplace Relations Policies

APS agencies negotiate their own workplace arrangements within policy frameworks established by the Australian Government.

For most of the coverage period of this report, workplace arrangements operated within former Australian Government policy frameworks that allowed for annual wage increases of 2% or 1.9%.

The Public Sector Interim Workplace Arrangements 2022 came into effect on 1 September 2022. The interim arrangements provided time for the Australian Government to develop a long term approach to APS wide bargaining. In the intervening period employees received a one-off 3% increase when their next annual wage adjustment fell due. Thirty-five percent of employees had received the 3% increase by 31 December 2022. The interim arrangements continue in operation until 31 August 2023.

Performance Bonuses

The Performance Bonus Guidance – Principles governing performance bonus use in Commonwealth entities and companies continued in operation during 2022. The guidance sets out the Australian Government’s expectations that performance bonuses are used only in limited circumstances. Circumstances for use include roles that involve significant at-risk investment outcomes, meet significant public milestones or involve non-tax revenue raising.

2022 Machinery of Government Changes

Over 7,000 employees were moved to another agency following Machinery of Government changes. The majority had terms and conditions from their previous enterprise agreement preserved on movement to one of two newly created departments – the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Where previous terms and conditions are not preserved, employees are usually moved to the nearest equivalent, or higher pay point for their classification in the gaining agency or maintained on their previous salary where it was above the new agency’s salary scale. This can impact median remuneration in an agency as a result of differences in gaining and losing agencies’ salary scales and the number of employees affected.