Two million employed in the public sector in June 2019

In June 2019, the public sector employed 2,047,000 people, 3.0 per cent higher than in June 2018, according to new figures released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Head of labour statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: "Most public sector employment was in state and territory government organisations, with around 1.6 million employees. A further 242,000 people were employed in Commonwealth organisations and 194,000 in local government."

"The industries with the highest public sector employment were education and training (649,000 employees), public administration and safety (637,000) and healthcare and social assistance (527,000)," said Mr Jarvis. “These industries include teachers, police officers and nurses who are employed by state and territory governments.”

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.

Further details are available in Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia (cat. no. 6248.0.55.002), available for free download from the ABS website https://www.abs.gov.au.