Public Administration and Safety

Overview

EMPLOYED

985,000

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 33,300 (or 3.5%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, May 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
    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
    733300
    742800
    746000
    743900
    739100
    735000
    732600
    732100
    732900
    735700
    741400
    749700
    758700
    766400
    771400
    771900
    765400
    757600
    755300
    762900
    782200
    804900
    823800
    835900
    839900
    840600
    842700
    847000
    854100
    862800
    871000
    878600
    886600
    894000
    897900
    896300
    891400
    886200
    886900
    895600
    908500
    921000
    931400
    941200
    951700
    962400
    971100
    978800
    985000

    Sectors

    State Government Administration is the largest sector in the Public Administration and Safety industry, employing 263,300 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, May 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 263300
    Public Order and Safety Services 233500
    Central Government Administration 200200
    Local Government Administration 153000
    Defence 47400
    Justice 29700
    Regulatory Services 12600
    Government Representation 1600

    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 - May 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_may_2025.xlsx118390

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