Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia

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Contains estimates of public sector employees and cash wages and salaries by level of government by state, and by industry

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Reference period
2018-19 financial year
Released
7/11/2019
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Key statistics

  • There were 2,046,700 public sector employees comprising:
  • 242,100 employees in Commonwealth government;
  • 1,610,600 in state government; and
  • 194,000 in local government.
  • Total cash wages and salaries was $166,893.8 million.

Main features

Key figures

 Employees June 2019Cash wages and salaries 2018-19
'000$m
Commonwealth Government242.122 155.1
State Government1 610.6131 441.3
Local Government194.013 297.4
Total Public Sector2 046.7166 893.8

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 Methodology.

Tables

1. Public sector employees, level of government - states and territories

  June 2018 June 2019
 C'wealthStateLocalTotalC'wealthStateLocalTotal
 '000'000'000'000'000'000'000'000
New South Wales54.0473.553.9581.453.4485.557.2596.1
Victoria47.2369.950.5467.748.8386.752.5488.0
Queensland29.0331.042.7402.728.1341.243.1412.5
South Australia14.7116.111.1141.914.0122.210.9147.1
Western Australia12.7173.622.4208.712.8177.623.2213.5
Tasmania5.2npnp51.25.1npnp53.3
Northern Territory4.227.62.934.84.128.42.935.4
Australian Capital Territory73.7npnp98.575.7npnp100.6
Australia240.71 558.7187.61 987.0242.11 610.6194.02 046.7

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
 

2. Public sector cash wages and salaries, level of government - states and territories

  2017-18 2018-19
 C'wealthStateLocalTotalC'wealthStateLocalTotal
 $m$m$m$m$m$m$m$m
New South Wales4 600.836 768.13 729.245 098.14 740.438 824.44 035.447 600.2
Victoria4 139.728 763.23 118.036 020.94 494.730 791.43 260.738 546.9
Queensland2 289.627 039.43 142.732 471.72 306.328 531.63 296.834 134.7
South Australia1 289.49 253.4789.311 332.11 250.39 860.2803.511 914.0
Western Australia984.114 822.11 395.217 201.51 032.915 049.11 469.317 551.3
Tasmania416.7npnp3 843.3431.9npnp4 083.5
Northern Territory328.32 628.6164.73 121.6326.12 750.8171.93 248.8
Australian Capital Territory7 310.3npnp9 502.87 572.5npnp9 814.6
Australia21 358.9124 640.812 592.3158 592.022 155.1131 441.313 297.4166 893.8

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
 

3. Public sector employees and cash wages and salaries, industry

 EmployeesCash wages and salaries
 June 2018June 20192017-182018-19
 '000'000$m$m
Electricity, gas, water and waste services48.248.95 255.35 475.7
Construction8.68.6859.8879.7
Transport, postal and warehousing82.682.57 269.47 426.0
Information media and telecommunications17.216.91 709.01 729.2
Financial and insurance services12.513.11 438.01 530.5
Rental, hiring and real estate services4.95.2432.4440.3
Professional, scientific and technical services27.126.52 526.62 538.1
Public administration and safety615.0636.851 609.854 843.2
Education and training627.6648.843 296.345 449.2
Health care and social assistance509.5526.941 859.944 389.8
Arts and recreation services18.519.01 074.41 131.4
Other industries(a)15.213.61 261.21 060.6
All industries1 987.02 046.7158 592.0166 893.8

  a. Includes Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Mining, Manufacturing, Wholesale trade, Retail trade, Accommodation and food services, Administrative and support services and Other services.
 

Inquiries

  • For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Data downloads

Public sector employees and cash wages and salaries

Data files
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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6248.0.55.002.
 

Methodology

Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia methodology, 2018-19 financial year

Articles