Staff at the Department of Home Affairs are the least likely of the 18 main agencies to recommend their department as a good place to work, according to the latest public service survey.
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The 2023 APS employee census revealed only 57 per cent of staff would recommend Home Affairs as a place of employment.
This result saw the department rank last in The Canberra Times' analysis of 16 departments plus the Australian Taxation Office and Services Australia. You can see how all 16 compare below.
The worst performers
Services Australia just scraped ahead of the mega-agency, with 58 per cent of staff saying they would recommend their workplace.
But this was still well below the APS-wide average result of 68 per cent, and almost 10 points behind the next agency - the Department of Defence, on 67 per cent.
Both agencies were thrown into the spotlight this year, with Services Australia struggling to rebuild trust following the damning robodebt royal commission report.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs is recovering from the news that former secretary Michael Pezzullo has been fired from his plum position, after an inquiry found he breached the APS Code of Conduct on 14 occasions. The survey was taken before these allegations were aired.
Fewer than half of Home Affairs and Services Australia staff said they felt inspired to do their best work. Just 54 and 55 per cent said they felt a strong sense of attachment to their agency, respectfully.
The most recommended workplaces
As for which agencies received the most endorsements: the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet took out the top title. Delving deeper into the employee engagement responses, 95 per cent of PM&C staff were happy to go the extra mile at work.
Meanwhile, 90 per cent said they were proud to work for the agency, 5 percentage points up from last year's survey and 14 points higher than the APS-wide average.
The Attorney-General's, Treasury, and Health departments followed closely behind PM&C when it came to recommending their workplace, all scoring above 80 per cent.
Across the APS, about three-quarters of staff felt job satisfaction and said their work gave them a sense of accomplishment, while 68 per cent would recommend their agency as a good place to work.
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The census was held between May 8 and June 9, and surveyed staff in 104 individual government agencies, and one external service provider.
Staff were polled on the effectiveness of their department's leadership, experiences of bullying and harassment, and employee satisfaction.
Participation in the survey was voluntary, but 2023 marks the first year when all agencies are required to publish their results.
Agencies have also released action plans to respond to the results of the 2023 census, and chart how they will improve, culture and leadership.
The Canberra Times will be publishing more census coverage in coming days, including analysis of all 104 agency results.