The public sector saw mild growth in both wages and the number of employees in 2017-18, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
Bruce Hockman, Chief Economist at the ABS, said that across the three levels of government, there was a 1.5 per cent increase in the number of employees between 2017 and 2018.
"Total public sector cash wages and salaries also increased by 4.0 per cent over the same period," said Mr Hockman.
"The strongest growth has been in state government organisations, with employment increasing by 2.0 per cent and total cash wages and salaries increasing by 4.7 per cent."
This collection covers public sector organisations, including Commonwealth and state/territory government organisations, local government authorities, public corporations, universities, non-profit institutions controlled by the government, government marketing boards, legislative courts, municipal authorities and other statutory authorities.
KEY FIGURE
KEY POINTS
- In June 2018 there were 1,987,000 public sector employees. There were 240,700 employees in Commonwealth government, 1,558,700 in state government and 187,600 in local government.
- In 2017-18, the total cash wages and salaries for the public sector was $158,592.0 million.
COVERAGE
- This collection covers public sector organisations, including Commonwealth and state/territory government organisations, local government authorities, public corporations, universities, non-profit institutions controlled by the government, government marketing boards, legislative courts, municipal authorities and other statutory authorities. Organisations are classified to Level of Government by determining the institutional unit (i.e. Commonwealth, state or local government) deemed to exercise control. The estimates in this release may differ from other available information due to differences in coverage and/or the classification of organisations. For further details, refer to paragraphs 33-38 of the Explanatory Notes.
REVISIONS
- Previously published estimates for 2016-17 have been revised as a result of new information received from organisations. The extent of revisions may differ between data items, states/territories, level of government and industries. These revisions are reflected in Tables 1, 2 and 3, and the associated time series spreadsheet.