Public sector jobs surge under Albanese government
Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency were among the fastest growing agencies in the past 12 months.
Federal public sector employee numbers have surged by 16.4 per cent under the Albanese government, rising by 26,153 to 185,343 over two years, with Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency among the fastest growing agencies in the past 12 months.
Public sector headcount numbers were 159,190 in mid 2022, rising by 11,000 in the subsequent 12 months and a further 15,214, or 8.9 per cent in 2023-24.
Ongoing employees now make up 91.8 per cent of the public service workforce, up from a low of 87.2 per cent in mid-2021.
The latest State of the Service report tabled in federal parliament on Tuesday reveals 555 public servants were found to have breached the APS Code of Conduct last financial year, with 61 of them then having their employment terminated.
APS agencies reported formal investigations into 81 employees for conduct categorised as corrupt, with 74 employees found to have breached the APS Code of Conduct.
Employee perception of harassment and bullying remained stable overall at 10.5 per cent but increased in Home Affairs from 13 to 15 per cent; Education from 7.6 to 10.2 per cent; Attorney-General’s from 7.9 to 9.2 per cent and Finance from 8.8 to 10 2 per cent.
Of the 185,343 employees in the APS, 170,186 were ongoing, an increase of 12.7 per cent, while 15,157 were non-ongoing, a 20.5 per cent reduction on the previous year.
During 2023-24, 30,540 ongoing employees were engaged by the APS, up by 38.5 per cent from 22,056 in 2022–23, while 11,280 ongoing employees left the APS, a 4.9 per cent reduction.
The NDIA had the biggest increase with a net rise of 2193 employees, up by 38.8 per cent, followed by Defence (up 1425 employees) Health and Aged Care (up 1173), Services Australia (1149) and the Australian Taxation Office (991).
Assistant Minister for the Public Service Patrick Gorman said “after a decade of neglect, investment in the public service was improving the delivery of vital services for the Australian people.”
Despite a challenging few years, including the impact from Robodebt, it is encouraging to see high engagement levels among APS employees,” he said.
Opposition public service spokeswoman Jane Hume said “Australians should expect to maintain a world-class, efficient public service … but they should not be expected to foot the bill for expanding a public service that provides worse services”.
“Australians are waiting longer under Labor to get simple claims, despite hiring tens of thousands of new bureaucrats at a cost of billions in taxpayer funds,” she said
Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Melissa Donnelly said the increase in job numbers, improvements in job security through the higher percentage of ongoing staff, the winding back of outsourcing and private contractor arrangements, and consistency of pay and conditions across the service were welcome news.
“These results are evidence that brick by brick, we are rebuilding the APS,” Ms Donnelly said.
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