Guidance Note to FRD 29A
‘Workforce Data disclosures in the
Report of Operations’
Reporting of employee numbers in department annual reports
Minimum Reporting Requirements
1. Purpose
1.1 This paper sets out the minimum standards required of public service bodies for reporting public service
employee numbers in annual reports.
1.2 The requirements relate to employees employed under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004. Existing
reporting requirements continue to apply with respect to other employees.
1.3 The objective of these requirements is to establish consistency in reporting of public service employees across
annual reports. The requirements have been developed in consultation with departments and fit within the
context of the Report of Operations required under the Financial Management Act 1994.
1.4 Entities have discretion over how to present the required information, and over the inclusion of additional
information.
2.
General reporting requirements
2.1 Entities must report on people who are employees of the Secretary.
2.2 Employee numbers are to be reported, under the categories of:
 on-going, and
 fixed term and casual.
2.3 The employees to be counted are those who are active (as defined below) and employed in the last full pay
period in June.
2.4 Employee numbers for the current and the previous year are to be reported.
3. Details to be reported
3.1 Ongoing employees
Reported in both headcount and full time equivalent terms, by:
 Total number
 Number by full time and part time status (Headcounts only)
 Number by gender
 Number by age cohort (15-24 / 25-34 / 35-44 / 45-54 / 55-64 / 65+)
 Number by classification level
3.2 Fixed term and casual employees
Reported in full time equivalent terms, by:
 Total number
 Number by full time and part time status
 Number by gender
 Number by age cohort (15-24 / 25-34 / 35-44 / 45-54 / 55-64 / 65+)
 Number by classification level
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Entities have discretion to also report by headcount.
3.3 Reporting of numbers by classification level
Reporting to conform to the following minimum standards:
 Numbers in major classification groups to be reported by level, where major groups include:
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the generic VPS grades 1 to 6 and STS; and
adaptive and occupational categories where the department employs more than 100 employees by
headcount in the category.
 Executives to be reported as a separate category. Entities have discretion not to list numbers by level, given
that executive numbers by level are required in a separate table under the direction governing reporting of
executives.
 Entities have discretion to report smaller adaptive and occupational categories either as ‘Other’ or as
discrete categories, without a requirement to report by level.
3.4 Variation in employee numbers from the previous year
 General commentary on programs or initiatives that had significant impact on ongoing, and fixed term and
casual employment levels over the reporting year must be included within the annual report.
3.5 Reporting of employee numbers working in portfolio agencies
 There are currently a number of Authorities and Offices that employ public servants independently of a
Department Secretary. A department annual report must list any Authorities or Offices in this category that
fall within its portfolio.
Where the Authority/Office produces an annual report, employee numbers must be included in that
annual report in accordance with these minimum requirements.
Where the Authority/Office does not produce an annual report, employee numbers must be reported in
the Department annual report in a separate table.
 Within some departments there are discrete Offices or Commissions that are staffed by employees of the
Department Secretary, but which produce their own annual report that include employee numbers.
Where this occurs, the department’s annual report must note that the department’s employee figures
include the employees of the discrete Office/Commission (e.g. Sustainability Victoria, Victorian
Commission for Gambling Regulation, State Revenue Office).
Departments may choose to report employees of an Office/Commission that falls into this category in
separate tables.
3.6 Explanatory notes
Notes are to be added to the report to:
 Indicate any relevant inclusions and exclusions in the employee figures, including explanations of the
treatment in reporting of any discrete portfolio agencies
 Indicate any significant rise and fall in employment numbers within the reporting year, such as the
employment and termination of a seasonal workforce
 Identify any classification categories that are rolled into an ‘Other’ category in reporting of numbers by
classification level
3.7 An example table showing these details is in Appendix 1.
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4. Definitions
Active employee: a person who attends work and is paid, or who is on paid leave during the last full pay period in
June of the relevant year
Included are:
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Graduates who are on rotation to another entity
Casual employees who work during the pay period
Cadets or trainees who are directly employed by an entity
An employee who worked only part of the pay period, but did not separate during the pay period
An employee on WorkCover leave (i.e. receiving make-up pay)
An employee on leave at half pay
An employee working with another employer but who continues to be paid by the entity, regardless of whether
the other employer reimburses the entity
An employee who may be absent on sabbatical leave
Excluded are:
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Graduates who are serving a rotation within the entity
Statutory Office holders
Labour hire staff
Contractors
Employees on leave without pay for the whole of the pay period
Employees who separate during the pay period
Casual employees who do not work during the pay period
Employees seconded to another employer, and who are not paid their salary by the entity
Former or current employees who receive payment for arrears
Casual: A person employed by the entity who is subject to clause 25, Casual Employees – Loading of the VPS
Agreement 2006, or similar clauses in other relevant agreements. It includes a person employed on a sessional basis
where such provision is made under an applicable industrial agreement.
Classification by level: refers to substantive classification.
Contractor: a person engaged on a contract to deliver a service rather than under a contract of employment.
Employees accessing purchased leave: where normal weekly hours are full time.
Executive Officers: are ongoing employees for the purposes of reporting, acknowledging that executive roles are
generally of an ongoing nature even though individuals are employed on fixed term executive contracts.
Fixed term: A person employed under the Public Administration Act 2004 on a contract of service for a specified and
finite period.
Full time: A person who normally works the full time hours defined for their job classification under the applicable
provisions of the VPS Agreement 2006, or another applicable industrial agreement.
Full time equivalent: A standard unit of measurement which is calculated by totalling the number of hours each
employee is actually contracted to work divided by the number of hours a full time employee is contracted to work.
Headcount: The number of people employed where each person counts as one employee regardless of the number
of hours contracted to work.
Labour hire staff: Persons employed by an external firm and provided to the entity by that firm for a fee; most
commonly including secretarial temps, hospitality staff, pool accountants.
Ongoing employee means a person employed on an ongoing basis under the Public Administration Act 2004. It does
not include contractors, labour hire staff, consultants or statutory office holders.
Part time: A person who is employed to work less than full time hours per pay period.
5. Application date
The workforce disclosures contained in FRD 29A are mandatory from the 20014-15 annual reporting year.
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6. Status
This Guidance Note supports and gives guidance to entities applying FRD 29A but is not part of the FRD (29A).
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Appendix 1 – Profile of the department’s workforce
June 200X - June 200Y
Ongoing employees
June 200Y
June 200X
Fixed term and
casual
Number
(Headcount)
Full time
(Headcount)
Part time
(Headcount)
FTE
FTE
564
432
401
396
163
36
434
414
44
67
June 200Y
Ongoing
Number
(Headcount)
FTE
Fixed term and
casual
FTE
243
321
199
235
33
123
135
186
79
8
24
114
158
91
90
67
5
13
2
June 200X
Ongoing
Number
(Headcount)
FTE
Fixed term and
casual
FTE
21
23
192
240
192
222
21
46
11
78
101
177
63
4
4
14
15
10
1
0
6
77
113
167
63
6
6
73
111
164
58
2
22
11
27
7
0
0
19
76
93
78
87
61
5
13
2
0
14
9
3
8
10
0
0
0
21
82
95
81
76
59
3
13
2
18
80
92
79
71
56
3
13
2
4
31
15
3
6
8
0
0
0
Gender
Male
Female
Age
Under 25
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
Over 64
Classification
VPS 1
VPS 2
VPS 3
VPS 4
VPS 5
VPS 6
STS
Executives
Other
Notes
All figures reflect employment levels during the last full pay period of June in each year.
Ongoing employees means people engaged on an open-ended contract in employment and executives engaged on a standard executive
contract who were active in the last full pay period of June.
FTE means full time staff equivalent.
Excluded are those on leave without pay or absent on secondment, external contractors/consultants, temporary staff employed by
employment agencies, and a small number of people who are not employees but appointees to a statutory office, as defined in the Public
Administration Act 2004.
Employees reported with a classification of ‘Other’ are 1 Ministerial chauffeur and 1 Legal Officer.
The increase in employment levels between June 200X and June 200Y is a result of an increase in part time employment that followed
implementation of initiatives to support family friendly work arrangements.
60 FTE staff were employed for a two-month period to support delivery of Melbourne Exhibition 200Y.
The Public Purchasing Authority (the Authority) is a discrete agency within this portfolio that employs public servants independently of the
Department Secretary. The Authority is required to produce its own annual report. Employee numbers for the Authority are published in that
annual report.
Employees attached to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Ethics are employees of the Department Secretary and are included in the
above figures. These staff are also reported in the Commissioner for Public Ethics’ annual report.
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