The Australian Public Service is getting older.

A new Statistical Bulletin from the Public Service Commission (PSC) shows that the proportion of under-25-year-old federal public servants has fallen to just 2.5 per cent.

This is compared to 5 per cent in 2007, and is much less than the 15 per cent of under-25s that make up the national workforce.

APS workers aged between 55 and 59 were up by 0.2 per cent, while the number of public servants aged 60 or over increased by 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, “all other age groups decreased in size”, the bulletin stated.

“The ageing workforce is a growing issue in Australia, and the situation in the Australian Public Service is similar to that in other sectors,” Karen Evans, managing director at NGA.net, told reporters at human capital media outlet HC Online.

“However, the APS is in the unique situation of being restricted from hiring the next generation of workers due to the current recruitment freeze.

“It means that their workforce is getting older and no one is coming in to fill the gaps as people leave. The most recent data shows how significantly this is affecting the makeup of the APS.”


“APS departments and agencies will need to review the current profile of their workforce to enable them to plan for both knowledge retention and succession planning.

“This is no longer something that can stay on the back burner.

“The expertise held by the over 45s is an asset to the country, and must be adequately transferred to the younger generations to avoid a ‘brain drain’ occurring when people retire.

“While the hiring freeze is in place, this should focus on transferring knowledge and skills to the middle-management level.

“In future years, when the hiring freeze is lifted, this succession planning should continue at all levels, meaning the upskilling of employees is a continuous process,” she said.