Defence undertakes a program of census activities across the Defence workforce. The census results are published when available.
Australian Defence Force Census
Initiated in 1991, the aim of the first Defence census was to establish an authoritative and credible base-line profile of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members to assist in developing appropriate policies for ADF conditions of service and family support.
Defence determined there was a need to conduct the census at 4 yearly intervals, in order to progressively develop credible, authoritative and up-to-date data.
The census can be completed online or by paper and continues to collect demographic data helping Defence to understand the contemporary and emerging needs of the ADF workforce.
The 2023 ADF Census was conducted from April 2023 for ADF members.
Defence Census 2023 (PDF, 9.41 MB)
Defence Census 2019 (PDF, 3.42 MB)
Defence Census 2015 (PDF, 493.83 KB)
Australian Public Service Employee Census
The Australian Public Service (APS) Employee Census is an opinion survey distributed online to all APS employees each year.
The aim of the census is to capture the attitudes of APS employees on workforce issues including strategic leadership, workforce capability and organisational effectiveness.
The census collects information such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, leadership and general impressions of the APS. The information collected is used to identify strengths and areas for improvement, and to provide data for the annual State of the Service report which is presented to Parliament.
Defence is one of 4 agencies with more than 10,000 APS employees, which face unique challenges due to size and complex organisational structures.
The Defence enterprise-wide action plan supports transparency and promotes accountability for the steps planned to improve workforce outcomes.