Indigenous Employment in Australian Government Entities

Audited Entities

• In addition to considering trends across the Australian Government public sector, the ANAO gave specific attention to the following entities:
  • Former Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations;
  • Department of Human Services;
  • Department of Agriculture;
  • Australian Public Service Commission; and
  • Australian Federal Police.

Audit Scope and Objectives

• To determine whether Australian Government entities were implementing effective strategies to support increased Indigenous employment.

Audit Criteria

• Strategies are in place that encourage Indigenous applicants, support their career development and contribute to the Australian Government target of 2.7 per cent Indigenous representation by 2015.
• Human resource systems operate to collect meaningful, accurate and relevant Indigenous employment data which is used to inform practices and refine strategies.
• Progress toward the target of 2.7 per cent representation is periodically reviewed and reported.

Main Audit Findings

• Achieving the Australian Government’s overall target of 2.7 per cent Indigenous representation in the Australian Government public sector by 2015 is unlikely, based on current data and trends. In June 2013, Indigenous representation in the APS was reported by the APSC to be at 2.3 per cent, a decline from 2.9 per cent in 2001, to 2.7 per cent in 2004, and 2.5 per cent in 2010. Most APS agencies (79 per cent) recorded less than 2 per cent Indigenous representation in their workforces. Overall, based on a total APS population of 167 257, Indigenous employees would need to number 4515, nearly 700 more than are currently employed.
• Despite the resources put into recruitment and retention initiatives, for the four years 2009–10 to 2012–13, there was a net loss of 71 ongoing Indigenous APS employees. A portion of the employees departing each year may be doing so for career development reasons, however, the high number of separations indicates that the selection of suitable candidates and their retention remain an issue for the APS and that, collectively, agencies are not gaining employment outcomes commensurate with their efforts.
• Entities examined in detail by the ANAO, with some exception, had in place current, Indigenous‐specific plans which provided a variety of strategies and initiatives for the recruitment and retention of employees. The ability to monitor and report against these plans was however, limited. This was due, again with some exceptions, to the development of plans in isolation of broader workforce planning or business imperatives and resources required; initiatives implemented with few qualitative or quantitative performance measures linked to the intent of the initiative; and a lack of relevant coding in human resource (HR) systems to generate reports.
• At the broadest level however, there remains no comprehensive and coordinated reporting mechanism for the Australian Government public sector, nor current avenue, for collecting data from non‐APS bodies, to provide reports against the target.

Audit Recommendations

• In order to more effectively progress efforts to achieve the Australian Government target of 2.7 per cent Indigenous representation, the ANAO recommends the APSC, in consultation with relevant bodies, review the current broad based approach to meeting the target, and provide advice to the Diversity Council, in particular on opportunities to achieve the target with a more differentiated and tailored approach, as well as more comprehensive reporting.
• In order to maintain the contribution of the Pathways Program to Indigenous employment, the ANAO recommends that the APSC examine ways to modify the operation of the Pathways Program to provide a recruitment service that is more tailored to potential Indigenous applicants and agency demand.

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