Culture at Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

The culture is pretty lackluster, which isn't too much of a surprise given it is public sector. Employees in the organisation work across the country, and many live far out from the office so the office can be quiet at times. Overall though, the graduate program allows the opportunity for socialising if you try to make the most of it

It's full of nerds who are really passionate about data. Everyone seems very nice and are willing to lend you a hand if you need one. Social life depends on where you sit in the Sydney office, but there are monthly social nights I enjoy attending.

The office culture is welcoming and supportive. We have a very flexible working environment, but office days are always fun and super productive when our team line up and are all working together.

The culture within our office is friendly and welcoming. Within my team, we are collaborative and supportive of each other.

The ABS has a great workplace culture. Our office social clubs are always organising fun events and everyone I have met has been really friendly and inviting. After work drinks and networking events are also pretty common which are a great way to meet people in an outside of work situation.

Everyone is understanding and accepting of circumstances and willing to help no matter the situation.

The ABS has a very healthy workplace culture. People work well and communicate effectively together. It is a very relaxed environment to work in. There can tend to be a strong emphasis on hierarchy, but that seems to be different in different sections. Socialising can be difficult with teams made up from people in a number of offices. There are attempts made to socialise but it doesn't always hit the mark.

The culture is positive, however could be improved with a greater level of office attendance to build relationships

Chill vibes

The culture seems to vary office to office. I've worked across 3 now and I've found the more concentrated each team is to an office the better the culture. There's not a lot of liasing between individual teams. My team works mostly from a different office to me currently, and I scarcely speak to anyone on days I go to the office. After hours office stuff is team by team I'd say. In terms of team work I've found most people to be very open to providing assistance and happy to cooperate when and where possible. There's very clear hierarchy in the organisation and it's very common for people to talk about their role by level as opposed to by their actual title. Also most peoples official titles very poorly match their job description.

Friendly, generally collegial and supportive

Culture: polite and friendly, reasonable casual, people often engage in knowledge-sharing or helpful behaviour, jokes about the outdated tech systems. There is a social club but a lot of people ignore it. After hours: am not sure. Importance of hierarchy depends on the section. Poor behaviour or known poor / rude / unhelpful workers are kind of ignored / accepted.

I don't participate much in the culture due to working from home, but everyone is friendly and there are always fun little activities happening and plenty of buy-in.

Friendly colleges and caring environment where competency building is encouraged through helpful and constructive feedback.

So far I rate the culture at work very highly: people are friendly, approachable, and willing to help. The only thing I would like to see done differently is having more casual socialisation after hours, particularly within the grad cohort (but I understand this is very tricky to do at a company level)

In office everyone is welcoming. helpful and respectful. Out of office there is no contact and no expectations/guilt. Very flexible work from home policy. Structure is fairly hierarchical, but those in higher positions are typically very personable and approachable with a strong sense of developing their team. Co-operation and teamwork encouraged. Socialising encouraged.

The structure and hierarchy of the ABS is fairly standard in my experience, though it seems most executive level staff are not typically people who have been at the ABS for most of their working career. While this is understandable, it seems unfair then that at lower levels it is very difficult to advance through APS levels. There seems to be a distinct divide between SES and APS staff, though this may differ across divisions. I hardly know who my SES are, and am aware of managers above me who have zero interaction with SES staff. Otherwise the culture at the ABS is enjoyable. Every interaction I've had with people from other teams has been positive, and there is a general willingness to help others. Socialising is generally encouraged, with events set up and coffee catch ups across offices.

Culture in the office is excellent. Teamwork is great. Lots of communication on the team chats. I go into the office most days so I have been able to build positive relations within my team and with others. Also enjoy being able to put my laptop away at the end of the day and not having to take work home.

The company culture really encourages learning and curiosity. Everyone is kind and generous with their time, and the graduates in my office are very social outside of work.

I've found the ABS culture to be excellent, I've never had any issues with the culture and feel very welcomed and supported in my team.