Employees

General reports submitted to the Registrar since 2007–08 contain information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees of each corporation.

Figure 19: Total number of employees at the top 500 corporations, 2007–08 to 2015–16

Column chart showing the number of employees in the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations, 2007–08 to 2015–16

Together, at the end of 2015–16 the top 500 corporations had 12,981 employees. This represents an increase of 1886 employees (17.0 per cent) from the previous financial year (figure 19).

The number of employees is susceptible to fluctuations from:

  • changes in how corporations have counted and reported their employees, such as corporations with subsidiaries changing their number to present a consolidated figure in line with consolidated financial reporting
  • corporations failing to lodge data.

Nineteen corporations in the top 500 reported zero employees for 2015–16. Some of these were corporations whose sole purpose is to receive and distribute royalties related to land use agreements—these often engage a peak body or land council to provide administrative services for a fee. Another example is corporations providing a housing service where a property manager has been contracted to carry out the daily business activity.

Figure 20: Total number of employees and percentage share for the top 500 corporations by state/territory, 2015–16

Pie chart showing the share of employees in the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations in each state and territory, 2015–16

The Northern Territory continued to hold a clear lead over all other jurisdictions for the highest total number of FTE employees, with a total of 5731 FTE employees in 2015–16 (4449 FTE employees in 2014–15)—representing a share of 44.1 per cent.

Figure 21: Comparison of percentage shares of total income and total employees for the top 500 corporations by state/territory, 2014–15

Column chart showing the percentage shares of total income and total employees for the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations by state/territory, 2015–16

The two jurisdictions that generated the largest share of total income (Northern Territory and Western Australia) both had a smaller share of total employees (figure 21). However, compared to last year, the Northern Territory has moved to narrow the difference between percentage shares of total income and total employees.

South Australia also held a smaller share of total employees in relation to its share of total income.

Figure 22: Change in the number of employees at the top 500 corporations by state/territory, 2013–14 to 2014–15

Column chart showing the change in the number of employees in the top 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations by state/territory, 2014–15 to 2015–16

In 2015–16 employee numbers increased in all jurisdictions. Northern Territory growth was the largest by far. Employment there grew by 1282 FTE employees, from 4449 to 5731. This was a turnaround from 2014–15 when the number of FTE employees in Northern Territory corporations dropped by 274. Note that a large portion of the increase is attributable to just one corporation that changed its reporting methodology. Western Australia also recovered from last year’s decline (of 339 FTE employees) to grow by 181.