Challenge
Victoria’s public sector delivers a wide range of services and support for the community. Its workforce includes 323,220 people, employed by Victorian Government departments and agencies. That’s around 9% of the total Victorian labour force. They provide health, education, transport, emergency services and more. The community trusts the public sector to serve them effectively, help grow the economy and keep people safe.
In this time of unprecedented challenge, our workforce is responding to:
- COVID-19
- the impacts of climate change, including natural disasters like bushfires and floods
- population growth, demographic shifts and changing community needs
- rising customer demand for joined-up, personalised online government services
- digital disruption and transformation
- declining trust in institutions.
The public sector supports and is responsive to the government of the day. Our workforce is implementing government directives, strategies and policies in a complex operating environment that is fast-paced, dynamic and under fiscal constraint.
Opportunity
The Commission sees an opportunity to think strategically about how our workforce might adapt. We are uniquely positioned to guide the way.
The Commission can:
- convene departments and agencies to accelerate tangible progress in workforce management, public administration and service delivery
- provide consolidated, trusted data that enables evidence-informed decision making
- lead from the centre to implement whole-of-Victorian-government people initiatives
- support the Victorian Government’s commitment to advance Aboriginal self-determination by working with the Aboriginal community in new ways
- shape and ready a diverse and inclusive Victorian public sector workforce to deliver for the community in years to come.
When we wrote this strategy, Victoria, Australia and the world was dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19. The Commission reacted immediately. We established an Executive relief pool, mobilising leaders across the Victorian Public Service to assist with the government’s COVID-19 response. We also published guidance on remote recruitment to support remote management of the employee lifecycle.
COVID-19 has changed the way we work today. Its impact will unfold over 2020 and beyond. The Commission is anticipating implications for our workforce. As our context changes, we will respond practically and strategically to support a resilient public sector.
Governance
The Commission is a statutory authority accountable to the Premier in accordance with the Public Administration Act.
For administrative arrangements, we are supported by the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Our work is complementary, and we align in pursuit of providing central coordination, leadership and stewardship of the public sector.
The Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet serves as Chair of the Commission’s Advisory Board.
Stakeholders
We worked with the Secretaries of each Victorian Government department to devise our strategic plan. We will continue working in partnership to deliver on our strategy, recognising that our stakeholders have knowledge, insight and experience that will help us now and into the future.
We are evolving our engagement from basic models of inform and consult to more participative models of collaborating and empower. We convene and participate in several interdepartmental groups and committees to co-design initiatives with the people most relevant to them.
The principles we follow are set out in our engagement strategy:
- plan and coordinate with others
- put people at the centre
- engage for impact.
Like our peers, we are influenced by contemporary practice in human-centred design, evidence-based decision making and agile ways of working.
Meaningful and inclusive engagement will create better outcomes for our stakeholders and the community we serve.