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Public sector employment

In 1995 there were 1.58 million civilian government employees, down from 1.72 million in 1986, making up about 26 per cent of the total work force (31% in 1986).

Public Sector Employment

• Public Employment by Government, 1995

• Functions of Government

• Young employees

• Women

• Ethnic minorities

In 1995 there were 1.58 million civilian government employees, down from 1.72 million in 1986, making up about 26 per cent of the total work force (31% in 1986).

They ranged from postal workers, railway staffs, teachers, police, numerous professional workers such as engineers, lawyers, architects, research scientists, town planners, social workers, computer experts, and so on.

Only a small percentage were engaged in the clerical-administrative work popularly associated with the term "public servant".

Factors contributing to the reduction in employment have been technological change (eg replacement public transport ticket sellers by vending machines), privatisation (sales of state banks and insurance companies), contracting out (eg of cleaning services) and cost cutting and service reduction.

Public Employment by Government, 1995

The figures include full time, part time, temporary and casual employees. (Adapted from ABS Employed Wage and Salary Earners Australia, March Quarter 1995, Cat No 6248.0)

Functions of Government

The Government sector can be divided into public trading enterprises, statutory authorities, and the public services.

About 20 per cent of government employees are engaged in trading enterprises such as Telstra, Qantas, electricity commissions, water boards, ports and public transport.

In the States, health and education are the biggest employers, accounting for about a third each of employees funded from the budget.

Other large statutory employers are police and road construction authorities.

The remaining sector is the public service -- that is, the departments and small agencies.

New South Wales employment breakdown

(Note: These figures are full time equivalents, not actual persons as used in the ABS figures.)

Young employees

The public sector was once a large employer of young people. That has changed. A 1990 survey of the NSW public sector showed only 3,478 people aged 19 or under, and only 16,193 in the 20-24 age group, out of 237,000 employees surveyed.

Women

In NSW (1990 figures) women held 32 per cent of full-time permanent positions and 84 per cent of part time permanent positions. Women dominate the casual and temporary positions (67%). 40 per cent of all employees are women.

(In the Australian Public Service, the percentage of women in permanent posts rose from 5 per cent in 1960 to 48 per cent in 1993.)

Ethnic minorities

In NSW the proportion of senior officers who were born overseas and are members of an ethnic minority is now approaching this figure for the community as a whole.

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http://www.psa.labor.net.au/decisions/1154053913_18770.html

2005 NSW Workforce Profile – Highlights from the Report

Central Council, 19 June 2006

Report adopted

The annual public sector employment profile for June 2005 has just been released by the Public Employment Office. The 2005 Overview is the seventh publication in the series. There has always been a significant time lag between the date of publication and the end of June annual reporting period, but it has improved.

Comparison between the series of reports must be qualified in recognition of the fact that the basis of collection, the categories reported on and method of calculation has changed from year to year. In demonstrating employment trends at the macro-level it does provide a good overview of the broad trends. Some of the highlights are reported below.

Historical public sector employment

FTE = full time equivalent

The figures in the above table have been taken from the series of Overview Reports. It shows the total employment figure is overall pretty steady The Full Time Employment total for 2005 (294,376) represents an overall increase of 0.9% from the 2004 EFT total (291,701).

Whilst total employment has marginally risen over seven years, public sector employment as a proportion of the total NSW labour force has continued to drop: 11.3% in 1999 : 10.5% in 2005.

The Macro trends

Also, although 5,000 job cuts were announced by the Premier and Finance Minister in February, these are targeted at "back-office-jobs". The 2005 Overview reports the macro trends in the reporting period June 2004 - June 2005 in the following extract (Box). It is clear from this information that the cuts are selective and some areas of the public sector, such as Health and Education actually sustained marginal increases. What is also notable is that there were reported to be quite large increases in the "non-budget dependent" sector, those areas that fall outside the Budget.

Lastly, the public sector is now almost 60% female.

Employment Status

The 2005 Overview reported that as at June 2005 the following employment categories were represented across the public sector:

Gender Pay Gap

The following Table is constructed from the 1999-2005 series where comparable information has been reported

Average full time remuneration rate for women as a percentage of average full time remuneration rate for men

In 2005 therefore the "average remuneration for females was 89.5% of the average for males." In other words "the gap" has marginally narrowed from the previous year.

Other indices are provided in the area of female employment, which indicate that proportionally women are much, more likely to be represented in part time and temporary work, and the lower pay scales.

The Ageing Workforce

The 2005 Overview reports the continuing trend of the ageing workforce. The following Table has been directly downloaded from the overview Report.

The average age in the NSW public sector was 43 years and the median was 44 years. Very low rates of permanency are in evidence for the <25 YO age group. Nearly one third of the workforce is aged 45-54 years.

EEO Trends

For the first time the Overview Report has incorporated EEO statistics which have not been reported for some time. In brief the proportional representation of the following groups is reported:

Contact Details
Gwenda Happ, Senior Industrial Officer (Research)
Ph: 02 9220 0911