First Nations employment
The Boosting First Nations employment measure outlines the Australian Government’s commitment to increase First Nations employment in the Australian Public Service to 5% by 2030.
APS agencies collect information on ‘Indigenous status’ from employees in their human resources information systems. They then report the information to the Australian Public Service Commission’s central APS Employment Database (APSED).
Figure AB 1 and Table AB 1 show First Nations employees in selected agencies as at 30 June 2024.
Proportions of First Nations people are reported in 2 ways. First, as a percentage of the total number of APS employees in an agency. Second, as a percentage of APS employees who have provided their status as Indigenous or Non-Indigenous (as opposed to ‘choose not to give’ or missing data). This latter method can be useful in determining an estimate of First Nations APS employment that is not influenced by missing data.
Figure AB 1: First Nations employees by agency (at 30 June 2024)
Source: APSED
Table AB 1: First Nations employees by agency (at 30 June 2024)
| Agency | First Nations | |
|---|---|---|
| % of total APS employees | % of APS employees who have indicated status | |
| Total APS | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| National Indigenous Australians Agency | 25.5 | 26.7 |
| Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | 7.8 | 8.5 |
| Services Australia | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Social Services | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts | 3.4 | 3.7 |
| Australian Public Service Commission | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Australian Taxation Office | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| Education | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Federal Court of Australia | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | 2.6 | 3.0 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| National Disability Insurance Agency | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| Health and Aged Care | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Employment and Workplace Relations | 2.2 | 2.5 |
| Home Affairs | 2.2 | 2.5 |
| Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | 2.2 | 2.3 |
| Industry, Science and Resources | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| Prime Minister and Cabinet | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Defence | 1.9 | 3.3 |
| Finance | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Veterans' Affairs | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| Australian Trade and Investment Commission | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Attorney-General's | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| Australian Bureau of Statistics | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Treasury | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Bureau of Meteorology | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Source: APSED