Public Administration and Safety

Overview

EMPLOYED

973,200

PART-TIME SHARE

15%

WORKFORCE SHARE

6.7%

FEMALE SHARE

50%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,860

MEDIAN AGE

43

About this data

Public Administration and Safety is a large employing industry. Around 6.7% of workers have their main job in this industry.

Organisations in this industry are mainly involved in:

  • Central, State or Local Government activities
  • physical, social, economic and general public safety and security services
  • enforcing regulations.

Median earnings are $1,860 per week, higher than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

Details

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    Employment

    Employment in the Public Administration and Safety industry grew over the 20 years to February 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 32,800 (or 3.5%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: Over the COVID-19 pandemic period (highlighted section in the chart above), some industries have censored values, resulting in a broken series for impacted industries. This is due to large quarterly fluctuations in employment resulting in trend data being unreliable for these quarters. Where data are available over the COVID-19 pandemic period, JSA recommends caution when using these trend estimates.
    Quarterly employment, Public Administration and Safety Employment
    603800
    607100
    609700
    612200
    616000
    621700
    627500
    632400
    635800
    637100
    636800
    636600
    638400
    643100
    650700
    658100
    664100
    668500
    671200
    675700
    681300
    687600
    693800
    700000
    706800
    713700
    719000
    720300
    717400
    712300
    709900
    713200
    722100
    733400
    742900
    746000
    743900
    739200
    734900
    732600
    731900
    732800
    735600
    741200
    749600
    758500
    766200
    771200
    771700
    765200
    757400
    755100
    762800
    782000
    804700
    823600
    835700
    839700
    840500
    842600
    846900
    854000
    862600
    870800
    878400
    886300
    893600
    897300
    895500
    890500
    885200
    885900
    894600
    907500
    920200
    930700
    940400
    950600
    960600
    967800
    973200

    Sectors

    State Government Administration is the largest sector in the Public Administration and Safety industry, employing 265,200 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: the sum of sectoral employment may not equal the industry total as data are trended separately, and not further defined (nfd) classifications have been excluded.
    Employment by industry sectors Employment
    State Government Administration 265200
    Public Order and Safety Services 238300
    Central Government Administration 191100
    Local Government Administration 151500
    Defence 46500
    Justice 29200
    Regulatory Services 12500
    Government Representation 1500

    Occupations

    General Clerks is the largest employing occupation in the Public Administration and Safety industry.

    The 10 largest employing occupations are shown below.

    Some occupations are common across a number of industries.

    Largest employing occupations

    Source: Ranked using ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2024, four-quarter average data, customised report.
    ANZSCO CodeOccupation title
    5311General Clerks
    4413Police
    5111Contract, Program and Project Administrators
    4422Security Officers and Guards
    2244Intelligence and Policy Analysts
    5995Inspectors and Regulatory Officers
    4421Prison Officers
    8999Other Miscellaneous Labourers
    5412Information Officers
    1324Policy and Planning Managers
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      Data Downloads

      Industry data

      This file contains data for all 19 industries to make comparing industry data easy. Information available includes:

      • industry overview
      • industry employment (20-year time series)
      • industry sector employment
      • top employing occupations by industry.

       

      Industry data - February 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_february_2025.xlsx118382

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