Executive summary:

• There were 2.6 million casual employees in Australia in August 2018. The casual share of total employees fell slightly from 25.1 per cent in August 2017 to 24.6 per cent in August 2018.
• In August 2018 there were 126,000 employees who were paid by a labour hire company or employment agency—accounting for only 1.0 per cent of all employed persons. This employment share has changed little over the past decade.
• There were just over one million people working as independent contractors in Australia in August 2018. The number of independent contractors has been very stable over the past decade. However, their share of total employment has fallen slightly from 9.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent.
• Public sector employees were much more likely than private sector employees to be on a fixed term contract in August 2018 (12.5 per cent compared with 3.8 per cent).