Our staff take part in the annual Australian Public Service (APS) employee census, which informs the APS State of the Service Report.
The census asks APS employees about their attitudes and opinions on a range of work-related issues, including:
- health and wellbeing
- attendance
- performance management
- leadership, and
- general impressions of the APS
The APS employee census is conducted in May each year.
In 2024, the ACNC achieved an 86% response rate to the census, with 115 out of our 133 staff participating. Our staff who were on long-term leave during this period did not need to respond.
To promote transparency, we, along with other agencies, make both our census results and action plan public.
You can download the ACNC’s 2024 Census Highlights Report and our 2024-25 Action Plan at the bottom of this page.
Highlights
The ACNC’s overall engagement score was 75, a one point improvement on the previous year’s result.
Our overall results were either nearly unchanged or showed a slight improvement, indicating a level of consistency and stability in how our staff felt about the ACNC and the work they do here:
- 90% of staff strongly believed in the ACNC’s purposes and objectives, a three percentage point increase on last year
- 89% of staff believed their immediate supervisor cared about their health and wellbeing
- 72% of staff felt that people were recognised for coming up with new and innovative ways of working. This figure represented our largest increase (19 percentage points) in this year’s survey. We are particularly pleased with this result given that innovation was a focus area in our 2022-23 Census Action Plan
- 87% of staff felt the ACNC supported and actively promoted an inclusive workplace culture. This is eight percentage points higher than the average figure recorded by other small government agencies
- 81% of staff would recommend the ACNC as a good place to work. This was also an eight percentage point increase compared to last year, and was 12 percentage points higher than the average figure recorded by other small sized agencies.
Our 2023-24 Census Action Plan focused on three key areas – managing priorities, capability management and communication and engagement. Responses to 2024 census questions corresponding with these focus areas showed:
- 81% of staff felt their workgroup had the appropriate skills, capabilities and knowledge to perform well – an increase of seven percentage points compared to last year’s figure.
- Our efforts to focus on managing priorities were evident through an increase in the percentage of staff that said they had work levels at capacity, and a reduction in the percentage of staff that said they had work levels well above capacity. Our 2024 census saw a 20 percentage point reduction in the number of staff with workloads well above capacity or slightly above capacity.
- Our overall communication index rating improved by one percentage point. We recognise we have more work to do in this area, and we will continue our focus on better communication.
The ACNC has undertaken an extensive consultation process with staff to ensure we better understand key themes behind the 2024 survey results. Following this consultation, we have identified three focus areas for our 2024-25 Action Plan:
- communication
- continuous improvement
- collaboration
Census Action Plan 2024-25
Target area: Communication
Goal
We actively listen to each other, enhancing our collaboration and productivity.
Actions
- Apply the ACNC Communications Protocol.
- Update and promote our inclusive meeting checklist to ensure that all perspectives are being heard in meetings we hold.
- Hold a microlearning session focussing on a best practice listening framework.
- Enhance leadership presence and accessibility by developing channels for staff feedback.
Target area: Continuous improvement
Goal
We take the time to reflect on our actions and decisions, sharing our reflections with one another to embed a culture of continuous improvement.
Actions
- Conduct regular ‘lessons learned’ reviews at virtual One ACNC meetings using the good, better, best model to reflect on what worked, what did not work, and what could be improved.
- Develop processes to ensure appropriate review points occur to enable us to reflect upon and review key decisions.
- Provide leadership support, and consider the resources needed to implement continuous improvement initiatives.
Target area: Collaboration
Goal
We harness our collective strengths and maximise the insights and skills of subject matter experts, working together in a way that respects our differing communication and learning styles.
Actions
- Use insights from the Herman Brain Dominance Instrument when working together.
- Use our inclusive meeting checklist and structure agendas to ensure we openly seek alternate points of view during meetings, as well as encourage differences of opinion and the use of solution-focused dialogue.
- Enhance opportunities for all staff to attend external stakeholder meetings, to present ideas and innovations to the ACNC’s leadership forums, and to gain experience in briefing senior leaders.
Downloads