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

1.1 Attraction And Retention Strategies

Attraction and retention strategies are used by directorates to recruit and retain employees with critical skills. The 2016 Agency Survey asked directorates to report on any critical skills shortages, capability gaps or difficulty recruiting to or retaining employees in certain positions during the 2015-16 reporting period. Particular comment was sought on issues with the attraction and retention of the following groups:

• Mature age employees;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees;
• People with Disability employees;
• People recruited as part of a formal graduate program;
• People with specialist skills, including leadership skills at the Executive level; and
• Entry level positions/Traineeships.

Of the eight ACTPS directorates, six reported critical skills shortages, capability gaps and/or difficulty recruiting to or retaining employees in certain positions during 2015-16. Of the six directorates;

• all reported difficulty attracting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees;
• three directorates reported difficulty attracting People with Disability; and
• three directorates reported difficulty recruiting employees with specialist skills.

Directorates identified various strategies to increase the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, including:

• educating and developing staff and managers (both through the transfer of knowledge between staff and through specialised training);
• workforce planning, including the implementation of diversity strategies and staff diversity surveys;
• increased use of exit surveys to assist in identifying the factors driving separation, and enable evidence based strategies to be implemented;
• utilising specialist recruitment agencies and designated positions (including designated positions in the ACTPS Graduate Program); and
• increasing cultural awareness through training and the development of directorate specific Reconciliation Action Plans.

Importantly, several directorates noted that strategies for improving the attraction and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and People with Disability are longer term strategies that are likely to take some time to realise a tangible outcome.

Of the directorates that reported difficulty attracting People with Disability, the following strategies were identified to increase the recruitment and retention of this cohort;

• launch of an Inclusion Statement as an overarching framework for building an inclusive workplace culture;
• educating and developing staff and managers, both through the transfer of knowledge between staff and through specialised training;
• utilising specialist recruitment agencies and designated positions (including designated positions in the ACTPS Graduate Program); and
• establishing dedicated Inclusion Officer position/s.

Snapshot: Retaining Employees with Specialist Skills

Education Directorate

During 2015-16 Education experienced specific challenges recruiting to specialised teaching positions. In order to address this capability gap, the directorate has applied targeted strategies including: using alternative employment pathways (such as Teach for Australia); targeted advertising (including use of social media and recruitment agencies); ARins; and the promotion of flexible work conditions.

The promotion of work life balance was identified by Education as an important component in retaining skilled and specialist employees. Providing employees with the ability to job share, access phased return from parenting leave, or transition to retirement (through agreed reduced hours or classification) can be used as a mechanism to retain those employees in specialist positions with specialist skills. Further, Education utilises strategic succession planning to ensure effective continuity for specific programs and learning initiatives, and staggers placement continuations so that there is manageable turnover each year.

Directorates that reported difficulty recruiting and/or retaining employees with specialist skills identified various strategies to attract and retain employees to these positions. Directorates identified that utilising targeted advertising and recruitment strategies (including the use of recruitment agencies and bulk recruitment rounds) was critical in attracting suitable applicants for specialist positions. Above base salary commencement, ARins and studies assistance were three common financial benefits offered to attract or retain employees.

For the 2015-16 reporting period, directorates were asked to report on the number of employees that received ARins, Special Employment Arrangements (SEAs), a benefit under an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) or any other remuneration supplemental to their salary as defined in the relevant Enterprise Agreement.

ARins are payments made to employees in addition to their classification salary. Using ARins allows directorates to attract staff with critical skills in a competitive labour market. For many years SEAs were used within the ACTPS to attract and retain staff with critical skills, however SEAs are also used in other employment situations.

Table 1 – Attraction and Retention Incentives, benefits paid under an Australian Workplace Agreement and Special Employment Arrangements 2015-16

Employees on a range of pay classifications received ARins and/or SEAs in the 2015-16 reporting period. The pay classifications varied relative to the directorate and the ongoing usage of ARins and/or SEAs. Directorates mostly reported ARins/SEAs ranging from ASO5 (classification salary range: $71,907 - $76,114) to SOGA (classification salary: $133,383) and across different employment classification types such as Health Professionals, Medical Practitioners and Dentists.

1.2 Age Profile

Consistent with previous years, 2015-16 has demonstrated a continuation of the pattern of gradual aging of the workforce. As shown in Graph 1, the age profile of ACTPS employees at June 2016 was fairly evenly spread over the 30-59 age groups. Of the 21,260 ACTPS employees, 16.9 per cent were 29 years old or younger, 51.5 per cent were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and 31.6 per cent were 50 years old or older.

Graph 1 – Age profile of the ACTPS workforce (June 2016)

Graph 2 illustrates the change in the age of the ACTPS workforce over the previous five year period. The graph shows that from June 2012 to June 2016 there have been slight changes in the proportion of each age group within the ACTPS. Notably the numbers of employees in the 30 to 70+ age groups continue to rise each year.

Over the past five years the ACTPS workforce experienced the biggest growth in the 70+ age group, with a growth rate of 28.7 per cent. During the same period the 60-69 age group experienced growth of 16.4 per cent, followed closely by the 30-39 age group with growth of 15.7 per cent. The age group 20 years and younger was the only group to experience a decrease during the period (a decrease of 39.5 per cent over the five year period).

Graph 2 – Change in ACTPS Age Profile (June 2012 – June 2016)

It is likely that over the coming years attraction and retention strategies will play a large part in directorates’ ability to retain mature age employees with specialist skills. Workforce data indicates that Judicial Officers (average age of 57.5 years) and Transport Officers (average age of 52.4 years) are two classifications with the highest average age. Loss of knowledge and experienced talent through retirement has the potential to significantly affect the ability of a directorate to deliver effective and efficient services. It is critical that directorates are able to identify areas in their workforce that are reaching retirement, in order to implement strategies for managing this trend.

1.3 Gender Profile

The ACTPS workforce is comprised of 13,810 female employees which is equivalent to 65.0 per cent of the workforce (based on headcount). The representation of women in the ACTPS is approximately 16 per cent higher than the representation of women in the ACT labour force (49.0 per cent)⁷, and approximately 18.6 per cent higher than in the Australian labour force (46.4 per cent)⁸. In comparison, male employees total 7,450 or 35.0 per cent of the ACTPS.

As shown in Graph 3 there are more women than men in all age groups across the ACTPS. This is to be expected when taking into consideration the larger proportion of women in the ACTPS workforce overall, and has been a consistent trend over the past two years. Of all the age groups, the highest proportion of women is in the 20-29 age group with 68.8 per cent. The lowest proportion of women is in the age group 70+ with 52.7 per cent.

Graph 3 – Gender Profile by Age Group (June 2016)

At June 2016 the average salary of women in the ACTPS was $86,442 and the average salary of men was $89,681. In the five years leading up to June 2016 the average female salary has increased by 15.7 per cent (up from $74,739 in June 2012), an increase proportional to the growth in the average salary of men over the same period (15.2 per cent up from $77,849 in June 2012).

Women in the ACTPS are paid slightly less than their male counterparts with a gender pay gap of 3.6 per cent. This gender pay gap is significantly smaller than both the national gender pay gap (16.2 per cent at May 2016)⁹ and ACT labour force pay gap (10.8 per cent at May 2016)¹⁰.

As can be seen in Graph 4, there are noticeably more women in the $60,000-$99,000 salary groups. There are approximately three times as many women than men in the $80,000-$99,000 salary range, indicating that a considerable number of women hold middle management positions in the ACTPS.

Women hold a diverse range of professions in the ACTPS, including; Administrative Officers, Correctional Officers, Bus Operators, Teachers, Rangers and Ambulance Officers. At June 2016 the professions with the highest proportion of female employees included Health Assistants (89.2 per cent), Nurses and Midwives (88.5 per cent), Health Professional Officers (80.1 per cent) and Legal Support Officers (78.9 per cent). With the exception of Health Professional Officers, female employees in these professions are all paid (on average) more than their male counterparts.

In the ACTPS women hold 41.5 per cent of Senior Executive positions (an increase of 3.7 per cent since June 2012), and the majority of the ACTPS Directors-General are women. The proportion of women in Senior Executive positions is consistent with the Australian Public Service where a gradual upward trend of women in leadership positions is occuring¹¹.

The ACTPS is an organisation that promotes gender equality, and it is evident from the number of women in the higher salary ranges that women and men are afforded similar opportunities for selection and promotion within the Service.

Graph 4 – Gender Profile by Salary Range (June 2016)

1.4 Pay Gaps

At June 2016 the average salary of the ACTPS was $87,584¹². The ACTPS average salary is higher than the average salary of women ($86,442), Culturally and Linguistically Diverse employees ($84,091), People with Disability ($85,019) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples ($78,330).

As can be seen in Graph 5, over the five year period from June 2012 to June 2016 the average salary of the ACTPS increased by 15.5 per cent. Notably, the average salary of the ACTPS is higher than the average salary of an individual in the Australian Labour Force ($79,085 at May 2016)¹³, and marginally less than the average salary of an individual in the ACT Labour Force ($90,008 at May 2016)¹⁴.

The average salary of female employees has steadily increased over the past five years. From June 2012 to June 2016 the average female salary has increased by 15.7 per cent, an increase comparable to that of the average ACTPS salary over the same period. The average female salary continues to remain slightly less than that of the average ACTPS salary, a trend likely attributable to the proportionally larger number of women than men choosing part time work across the ACTPS.

The average salary of employees identifying as People with Disability has increased by 14.3 per cent from June 2012 to June 2016. As shown in Graph 5 the average salary of employees identifying as People with Disability has increased at a steady rate from June 2013 to June 2016. At June 2016 the average salary of employees identifying as People with Disability has climbed marginally higher than that of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse employees ($85,019 compared to $84,091). Given the work undertaken during the 2015-16 reporting period to strengthen inclusion employment initiatives for People with Disability, it is encouraging to see a noticeable increase in the average salary of People with Disability over the past year.

From June 2012 to June 2016 the average salary of employees identifying as Culturally and Linguistically Diverse increased by 14.8 per cent.

The average salary of employees identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples saw a large increase from June 2012 to June 2014, however this increase has slowed from June 2014 to June 2016. Despite this, the average salary of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees has increased by 17.8 per cent over the past five year period, an increase higher than that of the average ACTPS salary over the same period.

Graph 5 – Comparison of Average Salary June 2012 – June 2016¹⁵

1.5 Part Time Employment

Employees who work part time make up approximately one quarter of the ACTPS workforce. As shown in Graph 6, at June 2016, 23.8 per cent of the ACTPS workforce worked part time (5,063 employees).

At 23.8 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 force¹⁶ (26.3 per cent) and the Australian labour force¹⁷ (31.7 per cent).

Graph 6 – Headcount by Employment Mode (June 2016)

As can be seen in Table 2, at June 2016 part time Culturally and Linguistically Diverse employees totalled 841, making up 16.6 per cent of the ACTPS’s total part time employees. People with Disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples made up 2.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

The majority of ACTPS part time employees are female (84.1 per cent). This figure is approximately 17 per cent higher than the percentage of part time employees in both the ACT labour force¹⁸ (66.6 per cent) and Australian labour force¹⁹ (68.4 per cent) at June 2016.

Of all female employees in the ACTPS, 30.8 per cent work part time compared to 10.8 per cent of all male employees. In the ACT labour force, 35.8 per cent of all women work part time compared to 17.2 per cent of all men. In the Australian labour force 46.7 per cent of all women work part time, compared to 18.7 per cent of all men.

Table 2 – Part Time Employment by Diversity – June 2016

Within the ACTPS, part time employees are predominantly employed on an ongoing basis, with permanent part time employees making up 83.2 per cent of all part time employees.

The ACTPS average salary for part time employees at June 2016 was $80,892. On average, the salaries of female employees working part time were equivalent to the salaries of their male counterparts. The average female part time salary at June 2016 was $80,791, and the average male part time salary was $81,426.

The equitable salaries of women working part time in the ACTPS continue to show that the ACTPS is an employer of choice for women. The ACTPS is shown to be an organisation that promotes gender equality, accommodating flexible working practices to allow both women and men to maintain a healthy work life balance while progressing their careers.

<sup>6. Total additional remuneration paid under AWAs, ARins and SEAs during 2015-16 is an approximate figure.
7. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Australia 6202.0
8. Ibid.
9. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings Australia 6302.0, Australia, 2016
10. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings Australian Capital Territory 6302.0, Australia, 2016
11. Australian Bureau of Statistics February 2016
12. Average salary figures include the salaries of ACTPS Senior Execuitves.
13. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings Australia 6302.0, Australia, 2016
14. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings Australian Capital Territory, 6302.0, Australia, 2016
15. Average salary includes the salaries of ACTPS Senior Executives and hence will differ from figures reported in previous editions of the State of the Service report.
16. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Australia 6202.0
17. Ibid.
18. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Australia 6202.0.
19. Ibid.</sup>

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