Appendix 2: APS agencies
This appendix covers a range of data about APS agencies.
Table A2.1 lists all APS agencies and employee numbers and reflects data in APSED as at 30 June 2022. These are headcount numbers and include ongoing, non-ongoing and casual (intermittently engaged) employees.
APS agencies are grouped into functional clusters to allow comparisons to be made between agencies with similar primary functions. The functional clusters applied to APS agencies are:
- Policy: agencies involved in the development of public policy.
- Smaller operational: agencies with fewer than 1,000 employees involved in the implementation of public policy.
- Larger operational: agencies with 1,000 employees or more involved in the implementation of public policy.
- Regulatory: agencies involved in regulation and inspection.
- Specialist: agencies providing specialist support to government.
Table A2.1: List of APS agencies by portfolio
This list contains 97 agencies and five Category E entities (bodies which employ staff under the Public Service Act 1999 and operate with some degree of independence).
| Agency name | Functional cluster | Headcount |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Water and the Environment | Larger Operational | 7,795 |
| Australian Fisheries Management Authority | Regulatory | 163 |
| Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority | Regulatory | 190 |
| Bureau of Meteorology | Larger Operational | 1,692 |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority | Specialist | 254 |
| Murray Darling Basin Authority | Policy | 273 |
| Attorney-General’s | Policy | 2,167 |
| Administrative Appeals Tribunal | Smaller Operational | 708 |
| Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency | Specialist | 19 |
| Australian Building and Construction Commission | Regulatory | 146 |
| Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity | Specialist | 99 |
| Australian Financial Security Authority | Smaller Operational | 368 |
| Australian Human Rights Commission | Specialist | 134 |
| Australian Law Reform Commission | Policy | 13 |
| Comcare | Smaller Operational | 634 |
| Commonwealth Ombudsman | Specialist | 268 |
| Fair Work Commission | Smaller Operational | 286 |
| Fair Work Ombudsman | Regulatory | 979 |
| Federal Court Statutory Agency | Specialist | 1,382 |
| National Archives of Australia | Specialist | 393 |
| Parliamentary Counsel | Specialist | 107 |
| Australian Information Commissioner | Regulatory | 128 |
| Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions | Specialist | 441 |
| Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security | Specialist | 49 |
| Safe Work Australia | Policy | 94 |
| Defence | Larger Operational | 16,887 |
| Defence Housing Australia | Smaller Operational | 561 |
| Education, Skills and Employment | Policy | 4,113 |
| Australian Research Council | Specialist | 139 |
| Australian Skills Quality Authority | Regulatory | 194 |
| Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency | Regulatory | 88 |
| Finance | Policy | 1,704 |
| Australian Electoral Commission | Smaller Operational | 3,200 |
| Future Fund Management Agency | Specialist | 220 |
| Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority | Specialist | 63 |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | Policy | 4,551 |
| Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research | Specialist | 62 |
| Australian Trade and Investment Commission | Specialist | 919 |
| Health | Policy | 5,689 |
| Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission | Regulatory | 834 |
| Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care | Specialist | 81 |
| Australian Digital Health Agency | Smaller Operational | 222 |
| Australian Institute of Health and Welfare | Specialist | 404 |
| Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency | Specialist | 140 |
| Cancer Australia | Specialist | 79 |
| Food Standards Australia New Zealand | Regulatory | 115 |
| National Blood Authority | Specialist | 69 |
| National Health and Medical Research Council | Specialist | 213 |
| National Health Funding Body | Specialist | 25 |
| National Mental Health Commission | Specialist | 49 |
| Organ and Tissue Authority | Specialist | 26 |
| Professional Services Review | Regulatory | 31 |
| Sport Integrity Australia | Regulatory | 331 |
| Home Affairs | Larger Operational | 13,858 |
| Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission | Specialist | 744 |
| Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre | Regulatory | 490 |
| Industry, Science, Energy and Resources | Policy | 3,526 |
| Clean Energy Regulator | Regulatory | 348 |
| Climate Change Authority | Specialist | 13 |
| Geoscience Australia | Specialist | 638 |
| IP Australia | Larger Operational | 1,138 |
| National Offshore Petroleum Safety And Environmental Management Authority | Regulatory | 141 |
| Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications | Policy | 1,938 |
| Australian Communications and Media Authority | Regulatory | 490 |
| Australian National Maritime Museum | Specialist | 111 |
| Australian Transport Safety Bureau | Specialist | 104 |
| National Capital Authority | Specialist | 58 |
| National Faster Rail Agency | Specialist | 8 |
| National Film and Sound Archive | Specialist | 185 |
| National Library of Australia | Specialist | 367 |
| National Museum of Australia | Specialist | 265 |
| National Portrait Gallery | Specialist | 59 |
| North Queensland Water Infrastructure Authority | Specialist | 1 |
| Screen Australia | Specialist | 5 |
| Prime Minister and Cabinet | Policy | 1,346 |
| Aboriginal Hostels Limited | Smaller Operational | 466 |
| Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies | Specialist | 122 |
| Australian National Audit Office | Specialist | 373 |
| Australian Public Service Commission | Policy | 378 |
| Digital Transformation Agency | Smaller Operational | 216 |
| National Indigenous Australians Agency | Policy | 1,326 |
| National Recovery and Resilience Agency | Policy | 192 |
| Office of National Intelligence | Specialist | 287 |
| Old Parliament House | Specialist | 114 |
| Torres Strait Regional Authority | Specialist | 137 |
| Workplace Gender Equality Agency | Specialist | 37 |
| Social Services | Policy | 2,776 |
| Australian Institute of Family Studies | Specialist | 92 |
| National Disability Insurance Agency | Larger Operational | 5,066 |
| NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission | Regulatory | 364 |
| Services Australia | Larger Operational | 32,296 |
| Treasury | Policy | 1,609 |
| Australian Bureau of Statistics | Specialist | 3,163 |
| Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | Regulatory | 1,396 |
| Australian Office of Financial Management | Specialist | 47 |
| Australian Taxation Office | Larger Operational | 20,242 |
| Commonwealth Grants Commission | Specialist | 35 |
| Inspector-General of Taxation | Specialist | 28 |
| Productivity Commission | Specialist | 183 |
| Royal Australian Mint | Specialist | 236 |
| Veterans’ Affairs | Larger Operational | 2,346 |
| Australian War Memorial | Specialist | 318 |
| All | 159,469 |
Source: APSED