The highest quality public sector employment and jobs information is available in the Public sector employment and earnings and Labour Account Australia releases. The ABS is reviewing sector estimates in detailed Labour Force statistics, which are subject to inherent limitations and should be used with caution.
Public sector employment and earnings
Latest release
Contains estimates of public sector employees and cash wages and salaries by level of government, state and industry
Reference period
2023-24 financial year
Released
7/11/2024
Key statistics
There were 2,517,900 public sector employees in the month of June 2024 comprising:
- 365,400 employees in Commonwealth government (including defence force personnel);
- 1,939,100 in State government; and
- 213,500 in Local government.
Total public sector cash wages and salaries in 2023-24 was $232,136.6 million.
Sector estimates
Coverage
Although earnings estimates relate to the full twelve months of the financial year, employment estimates relate to the month of June in the given year. Given these differences, the ABS does not recommend using these components together to calculate average earnings.
| Employees June 2024 ('000) | Cash wages and salaries 2023-24 ($m) | |
|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Government | 365.4 | 37,318.6 |
| State Government | 1,939.1 | 178,372.4 |
| Local Government | 213.5 | 16,445.5 |
| Total Public Sector | 2,517.9 | 232,136.6 |
Employees
| June 2023 | June 2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C'wealth | State | Local | Total | C'wealth | State | Local | Total | |
| NSW | 83.6 | 540.2 | 61.0 | 684.7 | 86.9 | 557.4 | 63.4 | 707.6 |
| Vic. | 59.9 | 470.5 | 56.9 | 587.3 | 62.9 | 486.0 | 57.4 | 606.2 |
| Qld | 48.4 | 393.3 | 47.3 | 489.0 | 50.0 | 408.8 | 48.1 | 506.9 |
| SA | 19.8 | 140.4 | 11.2 | 171.4 | 21.3 | 143.2 | 11.6 | 176.1 |
| WA | 18.0 | 210.6 | 24.6 | 253.1 | 19.0 | 219.8 | 25.5 | 264.3 |
| Tas. | 5.9 | 53.0 | 4.4 | 63.3 | 6.0 | 54.8 | 4.6 | 65.4 |
| NT | 9.3 | 30.4 | 2.9 | 42.6 | 9.5 | 31.6 | 3.0 | 44.1 |
| ACT | 105.4 | 33.6 | . . | 139.0 | 109.8 | 37.5 | . . | 147.4 |
| Australia | 350.3 | 1,871.9 | 208.2 | 2,430.4 | 365.4 | 1,939.1 | 213.5 | 2,517.9 |
. . not applicable
States and territories
| 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C'wealth | State | Local | Total | C'wealth | State | Local | Total | |
| NSW | 8,170.6 | 48,446.7 | 4,627.1 | 61,244.4 | 8,938.0 | 52,355.7 | 5,052.8 | 66,346.4 |
| Vic. | 5,808.1 | 40,702.5 | 3,806.5 | 50,317.1 | 6,362.8 | 42,988.7 | 4,028.2 | 53,379.8 |
| Qld | 4,631.1 | 36,183.3 | 3,899.3 | 44,713.7 | 5,004.7 | 39,758.0 | 4,114.1 | 48,876.8 |
| SA | 1,924.6 | 11,293.2 | 874.3 | 14,092.0 | 2,151.3 | 11,952.1 | 958.8 | 15,062.1 |
| WA | 1,730.2 | 18,483.1 | 1,645.8 | 21,859.0 | 1,911.3 | 19,545.1 | 1,775.7 | 23,232.0 |
| Tas. | 542.2 | 4,314.9 | 292.5 | 5,149.5 | 566.3 | 4,740.9 | 323.4 | 5,630.6 |
| NT | 840.7 | 3,061.4 | 180.3 | 4,082.5 | 901.9 | 3,290.4 | 192.6 | 4,384.9 |
| ACT | 10,288.2 | 3,241.0 | . . | 13,529.2 | 11,482.3 | 3,741.6 | . . | 15,223.9 |
| Australia | 33,935.6 | 165,726.2 | 15,325.7 | 214,987.5 | 37,318.6 | 178,372.4 | 16,445.5 | 232,136.6 |
. . not applicable
Industry
| Employees ('000) | Cash wages and salaries ($m) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun-23 | Jun-24 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 57.8 | 62.3 | 6,860.5 | 7,771.7 |
| Construction | 8.3 | 8.9 | 820.0 | 892.0 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 76.6 | 78.0 | 7,986.9 | 8,478.9 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 16.8 | 16.8 | 1,865.8 | 1,936.5 |
| Financial and insurance services | 19.9 | 21.1 | 2,327.9 | 2,593.7 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 7.2 | 7.6 | 632.3 | 664.6 |
| Professional, scientific and technical Services | 36.1 | 38.7 | 3,507.2 | 3,803.1 |
| Public administration and safety | 817.6 | 849.4 | 76,888.5 | 83,444.4 |
| Education and training | 737.5 | 753.9 | 53,803.2 | 57,904.5 |
| Health care and social assistance | 615.4 | 642.4 | 57,574.4 | 61,684.5 |
| Arts and recreation services | 21.4 | 22.8 | 1,409.0 | 1,568.5 |
| Other industries a. | 15.7 | 15.9 | 1,311.9 | 1,394.2 |
| All industries | 2,430.4 | 2,517.9 | 214,987.5 | 232,136.6 |
a. Includes Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Mining, Manufacturing, Wholesale trade, Retail trade, Accommodation and food services, Administrative and support services and Other services.
Data downloads
Public sector, employees and cash wages and salaries
Data files
Level of government, states and territories
Industry
Enquires
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Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6248.0.55.002.