1. An Agile Workforce: Meeting the needs of the ACT Community and Effectively Serving the Government of the Day

1.1 Attraction and Retention

Across the ACTPS, directorates seek to develop and implement innovative practices and solutions to assist in recruiting and retaining employees with specialist or critical skills. In the 2018 Agency Survey, all directorates reported that there are areas, or certain groups within their directorates which would benefit from various attraction and retention initiatives.

In the 2018 Agency Survey, directorates were asked to report on the attraction and retention of employees who fell within the following groups:

• mature age employees;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees;
• People with Disability;
• entry level positions/traineeships/employees;
• people with specialist skills, including leadership skills at the Executive level;
• Veterans; and
• any other groups.

Five of the seven directorates provided comments relating to mature age employees. In particular, these comments highlighted that the potential loss of corporate knowledge and highly skilled workforce could be an issue. To mitigate risks and reduce the impact associated with employees who may be retiring, several directorates have commenced appropriate workforce planning and incorporated the transfer of information through mentoring and training opportunities. In addition, directorates have further encouraged flexible working arrangements. EPSDD provides an early intervention process, which means mature age employees are able to discuss their needs as their life changes. EPSDD will assist with early intervention strategies, through the provision of reasonable adjustments (if required) and flexible working arrangements to enable and encourage employees to stay in active employment for longer.

All directorates confirmed their commitment to the attraction and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and People with Disability employees within their workforce.

All directorates have Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP). This is discussed in detail later in this section.

Directorates identified various strategies used to increase the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and People with Disability employees including:

• educating and developing employees and managers (through the transfer of knowledge between staff and through specialised training such as, cultural awareness training and disability awareness training);
• providing and promoting reasonable adjustment practices during the recruitment process and within individual workplaces;
• continuing to build and maintain culturally safe workplaces;
• involving staff in support networks and mentor programs;
• culturally proficient workforce planning to include strategies to increase diversity of the workforce and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and People with Disability employees;
• participating in the Whole of Government Inclusion Vocational Traineeships or Australian School Based Apprenticeships (ASBAs);
• active involvement with Whole of Government inclusion initiatives (such as the ACTPS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Career Development Program); and
• utilising the directorate’s RAP to embed reconciliation into work practices and strengthen the cultural inclusivity of the workplace.

Specific initiatives undertaken by directorates include: the development and implementation of dedicated intranet pages to support managers and supervisors with the employment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and People with Disability and the continued implementation of the employment action plan for People with Disability. JACS formed a partnership with NSW Fire and Rescue to implement an Indigenous Fire and Rescue Employment Strategy program to increase representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples within the ACT Fire and Rescue Service.

All directorates support and participate in at least one of the Whole of Government entry level programs such as the ACTPS Graduate Program, the Inclusion Vocational Employment Program and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Vocational Employment Program. Several directorates also participated in the Work Experience Support Program (WESP), creating an avenue for ACT residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experiencing significant barriers to obtaining on-going employment by gaining work experience.

Five directorates reported difficulty in attracting employees with certain specialist skills including leadership skills at the Executive level. Several directorates identified issues in attracting and retaining specific classifications while others identified difficulty in attracting skills such as leadership capability. For those directorates, numerous strategies have been implemented to build on their internal leadership and management capability. CSD is commencing a talent identification program ‘Stepping into Executive’ which will focus on developing skilled and values based leaders within their directorate and the Education Directorate has an Aspiring Leaders Program.

The ACT Government Veterans’ Employment Strategy was launched in September 2017 with the vision to make the ACTPS a leader in the recruitment and retention of veterans. Three of the seven directorates commented on the recruitment and retention of veterans and noted that appropriate recruitment initiatives focused on bringing veterans into the workforce will be explored in the coming years.

The ACTPS Enterprise Agreements contain provisions for the Head of Service to determine that an employee or group of employees who occupy certain positions should be provided with ARIns that may differ from some of the terms and conditions available under the Enterprise Agreement. It is a requirement of the Enterprise Agreements that ARIns are reviewed annually.

Prior to the introduction of ARIns in 2013, these arrangements were achieved through the use of Special Employment Arrangements (SEAs) and Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). SEAs and AWAs continue to apply to until they are ceased by either party. Whilst there continues to be employees covered by SEAs and AWAs in the ACTPS, no new arrangements can be commenced using these instruments.

ARIns, SEAs and AWAs were provided to employees across a wide range of classifications in all seven directorates throughout the 2017-18 reporting period. Of the 452 ARIns, SEAs and AWAs in place at 30 June 2018, 284 are within the Health Directorate making up 63 per cent of the total number across the ACTPS. The additional remuneration paid under the Health Directorate arrangements accounts for approximately 92 per cent of the total additional remuneration paid in the ACTPS. The arrangements are utilised for a wide range of classifications including Dentists, Health Professionals, Medical Practitioners and Senior Specialists. The arrangements apply to employees with notional salaries ranging from $84,816 per annum to $222,205 per annum.

The other six Directorates reported ARIns SEAs and AWAs being used for officers notionally ranging from an Administrative Services Officer Class 5 (classification salary range: $74,081 - $78,415) to a Senior Officer Grade A (classification salary: $137,415) and across different employment classification types such as Professional Officers and Information Technology Officers.

Please note that some ARIns do not contain additional remuneration and instead may contain some other benefits.

1.2 Age Profile

During the 2017-18 reporting period the age profile of ACTPS employees remained consistent with previous years. Graph 1 shows the distribution of the ACTPS workforce by age groups and highlights that the majority of ACTPS workers are aged between 30 and 59 years old.

Of the 22,230 ACTPS employees, 16.9 per cent were 29 years old or younger, 53 per cent were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and 30.1 per cent were 50 years old or older.

Graph 1 – Age Profile of the ACTPS Workforce (30 June 2018)

Graph 2 below illustrates the change in the age of the ACTPS workforce over the previous five year period. There have been slight variations in the proportion of each age group from June 2014 to June 2018. The trend continues to show a pattern of gradual ageing of the ACTPS workforce.

The ACTPS workforce experienced the highest growth in headcount during the last twelve months in employees between the ages of 30 to 49 years old with a total increase of 465 employees. The 30 to 39 age group increased by 347 employees and the 40 to 49 age group increased by 118 employees. All other age groups had minimal change in their growth.

Graph 2 – Change in ACTPS Age Profile (June 2014 – June 2018)

1.3 Gender Profile

At June 2018, the ACTPS consisted of employees who identified as male, female and Indeterminate/Intersex/Unspecified (referred to as Gender X). Employees who identify as Gender X are those individuals who do not exclusively identify as male or female (i.e. a person of a non-binary gender)³.

Gender, as defined in the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender is ‘part of a person’s personal and social identity. It refers to the way a person feels, presents and is recognised within the community. A person’s gender may be reflected in outward social markers, including their name, outward appearance, mannerisms and dress’³.

For the purposes of reporting in the 2017-18 State of the Service Report, gender information is presented as male/female only. While the ACTPS recognises that there are employees who identify as a gender other than male or female, for privacy reasons this information is not included where data has been broken down by gender.

At June 2018, the ACTPS workforce comprised of 14,505 female employees which is equivalent to 65.2 per cent of the workforce (based on headcount). Similar to last year, the representation of females in the ACTPS is approximately 16 per cent higher than the representation of females in the ACT labour force (49.0 per cent at June 2018)⁴, and approximately 18.1 per cent higher than in the Australian labour force (47.1 per cent at June 2018)⁵. In comparison, male employees total 7,722 or 34.7 per cent of the ACTPS.

Illustrated in Graph 3 is the number of female and male employees by age group. Similar to last year, there are more females than males in all age groups across the ACTPS, with the exception of the 70+ cohort which comprises 14.5 per cent more males than females. Given females make up 65.2 per cent of the total ACTPS workforce, the higher proportion of females in each age group is to be expected. Of all the age groups, the highest proportion of females is in the 20-29 age group at 69.3 per cent. The lowest proportion of females is in the age group over 70 at 46.6 per cent.

Graph 3 – Gender Profile by Age

At June 2018 the average salary of females in the ACTPS was $90,300 and the average salary of males was $92,443.

The gender pay gap for the 2017-18 reporting period is 2.3 per cent. This means that females in the ACTPS are paid slightly less than their male counterparts. However the pay gap is reducing – it reduced by 0.8 per cent from the previous year.

Research continues to identify and support that gender pay gaps are lower in those organisations with higher representation of females in executive leadership roles⁶. This is certainly the case for the ACTPS with 46.1 per cent of the Senior Executive Service being females, an increase from 44.7 per cent in 2016-17.

It is important to note that in the ACTPS, females and males undertaking the same job receive the same remuneration. That is, females and males with the same role and responsibilities receive the same salary (for example a female and a male in an Administrative Services Officer Class 6 position receive the same salary, just as a female and a male in a Classroom Teacher 1 position receive the same salary).

Graph 4 – Gender Profile by Salary Range (June 2018)

Graph 4 shows the number of male and female employees across different salary groups in the ACTPS. There are significantly more females in the $60,000-$119,000 salary groups, while in the $40,000-$59,000 and over $120,000 salary groups the number of females and males is more similar.

Over the past year the number of females has increased in all salary groups above $80,000. The highest increase was within the $80,000 to $99,000 range from 3,755 in 2017 to 4,002 in 2018. Comparatively, over the same period the number of males has remained consistent across all salary ranges.

Females hold 46.1 per cent of Senior Executive positions in the ACTPS, a proportion roughly equivalent to that of four years ago (44 per cent at June 2013). Of those Senior Executive positions five out of seven Directors-General are females. Females hold a similar proportion of Statutory Office Holder positions at 46.7 per cent.

Females working in the ACTPS hold a diverse range of professions, including: Administrative Officers, Ambulance Officers, Fire and Rescue Officers, Information Technology Officers, Teachers and Transport Officers. At June 2018 the professions with the highest proportion of female employees were: Nurses and Midwives (87.1 per cent), Health Professional Officers (78.4 per cent), Teachers (77.3 per cent), Legal Officers (76.5 per cent) and Health Assistants (76.3 per cent).

Graph 5 provides an overview of the average salary growth of females over the last five years in comparison to other diversity groups and the overall ACTPS workforce.

Graph 5 – Comparison of average salary (June 2014 - June 2018)

1.4 Part Time Employment

The ACTPS is committed to accommodating flexible work arrangements including part time working arrangements. In the ACTPS, employees who work part time make up almost one quarter of the workforce. The high proportion of permanent part time employees in the ACTPS demonstrates that this commitment is being supported through part time arrangements. Part time work allows employees to combine employment with other activities such as education or raising or caring for family, and allows both female and male employees to maintain a healthy work life balance while progressing their careers.

Displayed below in Graph 6 is the ACTPS workforce by employment mode. At June 2018, 24.7 per cent of the workforce worked part time (5,496 employees).

At 24.7 per cent, the percentage of part time employees in the ACTPS is lower than both the percentage of part time employees in the ACT labour force (27.6 per cent)⁴ and the Australian labour force (32.2 per cent)⁵ at June 2018.

Graph 6 – ACTPS Workforce by Employment Category (June 2018)

As can be seen in Table 3, at June 2018 there were 917 part time Culturally and Linguistically Diverse employees, representing 16.7 per cent of the total number of part time employees. People with Disability made up 2.2 per cent, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples made up 1.4 per cent.

Consistent with previous years, the majority of ACTPS part time employees are female (83 per cent). At 30 June 2018, 31.4 per cent of females worked part time in comparison to 12.1 per cent of males. The percentage of males who work part time has increased by 0.6 per cent within the last 12 months.

The proportion of ACTPS part time employees who are female is approximately 15 per cent higher than the percentage of female part time employees in both the ACT labour force⁵ (68.2 per cent) and Australian labour force⁵ (69 per cent) at June 2018.

In the ACT labour force, 38.6 per cent of all females work part time compared to 17.1 per cent of all males⁵, and in the Australian labour force 47.2 per cent of females work part time compared to 18.9 per cent of all males⁵.

As shown in Table 3, part time employees within the ACTPS are predominantly employed on a permanent part time basis, with these employees making up 81.1 per cent of all part time employees. Over the past three years, trends within the part time workforce have remained consistent. The percentage of females who work part time has changed 1.1 per cent from 84.1 per cent in 2016 to 83 per cent in 2018 and the proportion of part time employees who identified with a diversity group has also remained largely unchanged. The most significant change has been the slight reduction of part time employees who are permanent. This has declined by 2.1 per cent (83.2 per cent in 2016 to 81.1 per cent in 2018).

The ACTPS average salary for part time employees was $84,433 at June 2018. The average salary of females and males working part time was approximately equivalent, with females earning an average part time salary of $84,393 and males earning an average part time salary of $84,628. The gap between the average part time salary for females and males has reduced from $1,057 to $235 since the 2016-17 reporting period.

¹ For the purposes of reporting ARIns, SEAs and AWAs, the City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency data is included in the ACT Public Service Workforce Report.

² Total additional remuneration paid under AWAs, ARIns and SEAs during 2017-18 is an approximate figure.

³ Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender, Australian Government, 2013.

⁴Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Australia 6202.0

⁵ Ibid