APS Employee Census

APS Employee Census

The APS Employee Census is a voluntary survey providing employees with the opportunity to share their views about the Australian Public Service.

The survey is conducted annually and collects information on a range of workforce issues including:

  • health and wellbeing
  • employee engagement
  • performance management
  • leadership
  • general impressions of the APS

Further information about the census is available on the Australian Public Service Commission website.

Highlights of the NDIS Commission’s results for 2023

Highlights from the 2023 APS Employee Census include:

  • our Response Rate was 71% (386 of 547)
  • our Employee Engagement score was 70
  • our Immediate Supervisor index score was 71 and the SES Manager score was 59
  • the Communication index score was 58
  • our Enabling Innovation index score was 61
  • the Wellbeing Policies and Support index score was 55.

View our full 2023 highlights report.

What we will do with the results

The NDIS Commission is committed to responding to the results of the APS Census through a staff led approach to create impact and change. We want to generate staff conversations and commitment to a suite of initiatives that are iterative and take an approach of continuous improvement to drive the greatest uplift and improve the day-to-day experience of each colleague who works at the NDIS Commission, and their connection to their colleagues, their work, and the NDIS Commission’s purpose and impact.

Since the release of the report the following has occurred:

  • analysis of results by the senior leadership to generate thinking on priority areas and opportunities and improvements that can be made over the next 12 months
  • division/branch based team discussions to focus on specific areas' results and develop local actions
  • establishment of a staff led working group consisting of members from across the NDIS Commission at various levels – the working group has identified three areas of priority focus (leadership, communication and wellbeing) and is developing a suite of initiatives for testing with staff prior to implementation.     

A One Commission approach to implementation will be supported by regular check-in, monitoring and evaluation. Adjustment of initiatives will occur as needed to ensure we are on track and that initiatives are having an impact.

Employee Census Action Plan

The Employee Census Action Plan has been launched after consultation and discussion with leaders and teams across the organisation. Teams and individuals have provided valuable feedback and suggestions, which have been collated and used to affirm the final plan.

  • A PDF version and an accessible Word version of the plan are available here​.

The Employee Census Action Plan focusses on five key themes identified in our recent results by employees as being critical for our team’s success:

  1. Wellbeing
  2. Inclusion and Flexible Working
  3. Communication and Change
  4. Team Leadership and
  5. Organisational Leadership

There are tangible short term and long-term action items for each of these themes, which will be championed and closely monitored by our Executive Leadership Team.

The Employee Census Action Plan will be the subject of regular discussion and monitoring by the Executive Leadership Team and will continue to be a key focus area for our Senior Leadership Team and our Employee Census Working Group.

Related resources

APS Employee Census 2023: NDIS Commission Highlights Report

APS Census 2023-24 Action Plan

APS Employee Census 2022: NDIS Commission Highlights Report

APS Employee Census 2021: NDIS Commission Highlights Report

APS Employee Census 2019: NDIS Commission Highlights Report

APS Employee Census 2020: NDIS Commission Highlights Report