Section 44 of the Public Service Act 1999 stipulates that the Australian Public Service Commissioner issue a report each year to the agency’s Minister for presentation to the Australian Parliament. It is required to report on the state of the Australian Public Service (APS) during the past year.

The State of the Service Report 2021–22 identifies year-to-year trends in workforce participation and capability across the APS. This is the 25th annual report on the state of the APS presented to Parliament.

The report is informed by the results of the APS Employee Census. It also draws on the APS Employment Database, the APS Agency Survey, and other data collections and research undertaken to evaluate the APS during the past year.

The appendices of the State of the Service Report 2021–22 comprise:

• APS workforce information sources
• APS agencies
• APS workforce trends
• supporting statistics to the report
• unscheduled absence data.