2023 survey questions

All the questions that will be included in the 2023 survey, including their options and conditions, have been published below.

2023 survey questions (DOCX, 84 pages)

Outcomes

Engagement

Satisfaction

Wellbeing

This question is only asked if you did not answer “Nil” for “How would you rate your current level of work-related stress?”

Options

Select up to 3 options

Workload
Time pressure
Content, variety, or difficulty of work
Work that doesn’t match my skills or experience
Ability to choose how my work is done
Dealing with clients, patients or stakeholders
Unclear job expectations
Management of work (e.g. supervision, training, information, support)
Physical environment
Social environment (e.g. relationships with colleagues, manager or senior leaders)
Incivility, bullying, harassment or discrimination
Work schedule or hours
Competing home and work responsibilities (including caring responsibilities)
Organisation or workplace change
Job security
Working from home
Technology or equipment
Other changes due to COVID-19
Other (please specifiy)

Health sector only

Options

I enjoy my work. I have no symptoms of burnout
Occasionally I am under stress, and I don’t always have as much energy as I once did, but I don’t feel burned out
I am definitely burning out and have one or more symptoms of burnout, such as physical and emotional exhaustion
The symptoms of burnout that I am experiencing won’t go away. I think about frustration at work a lot
I feel completely burned out and often wonder if I can go on. I am at the point where I may need some changes or may need to seek some sort of help

Inclusion

Intention to stay

Senior leadership

The most senior group of managers in your organisation. This may include: the head of your organisation (CEO, department secretary, commissioner), executives, directors, division managers, general managers.

We plan to work with the Department of Health and Victoria Police to create better description for their portfolio organisations/personnel.

Senior leadership

Organisation climate

Organisational integrity

Patient safety (health sector only)

Safety climate

Taking action

Collaboration

Workgroup climate

The immediate workgroup, work unit, project or team where you spend the largest proportion of your time at work.

Innovation climate

Workgroup support

Quality service delivery

Safe to speak up

Job and manager factors

The person in your workgroup, project or team to whom you report on a daily basis. If you work for more than one team/work unit, please think of the manager with whom you work most frequently.

Job enrichment

Learning and development

Manager leadership

Manager support

Workload

Flexible working

Meaningful work

Negative behaviours

Bullying

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” for bullying

Options

Incivility (e.g. talking down to others, making demeaning remarks, not listening to somebody)
Verbal abuse
Intimidation and/or threats
Exclusion or isolation
Interference with my personal property and/or work equipment
Withholding essential information for me to do my job
Being assigned meaningless tasks unrelated to my job
Being given impossible assignment(s)
Other

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” for bullying

This question is only asked if you answered “Submitted a formal complaint” for “Did you tell anyone about the bullying?”

Options

I didn’t think it was serious enough
I didn’t think it would make a difference
I believed there would be negative consequences for my reputation (e.g. that I would be blamed or not believed or thought to be overreacting)
I believed there would be negative consequences for my career (e.g. opportunities for promotion, risk of being fired)
I believed there would be negative consequences for the person I was going to complain about
I didn’t need to because I made the bullying stop
I didn’t need to because I no longer had contact with the person(s) who bullied me
I thought the complaint process would be embarrassing or difficult
I didn’t know who to talk to
I didn’t know how to make a complaint
I didn’t feel safe to report the incident
I was advised not to
Other

Discrimination

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” for discrimination

Options

Age
Disability
Employment activity (e.g. making a reasonable request for information about my employment entitlements, or communicating concerns about the provision of these entitlements
Gender identity
Industrial and/or political activity
Marital status
Parent or carer status (including pregnancy and breastfeeding)
Physical features
Race
Religious belief or activity
Sex
Sexual orientation (including expunged homosexual conviction), or lawful sexual activity
Personal association with someone who has any of the above attributes (whether as a relative or otherwise)

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” for discrimination

Options

Denied pay or conditions offered by employer
Denied opportunities for promotion
Denied opportunities for transfer/secondment
Denied opportunities for training or professional development
Denied flexible work arrangements or other adjustments
Employment security – threats of dismissal or termination
Denied access to leave
Other

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” for discrimination

This question is only asked if you answered “Submitted a formal complaint” for “Did you tell anyone about the discrimination?”

Options

I didn’t think it was serious enough
I didn’t think it would make a difference
I believed there would be negative consequences for my reputation (e.g. that I would be blamed or not believed or thought to be overreacting)
I believed there would be negative consequences for my career (e.g. opportunities for promotion, risk of being fired)
I believed there would be negative consequences for the person I was going to complain about
I didn’t need to because I made the discrimination stop
I didn’t need to because I no longer had contact with the person(s) who discriminated against me
I thought the complaint process would be embarrassing or difficult
I didn’t know who to talk to
I didn’t know how to make a complaint
I didn’t feel safe to report the incident
I was advised not to
Other

Sexual harassment

Options

Sexually suggestive comments or jokes that made me feel offended (in either a group or one on one situation)
Intrusive questions about my private life or comments about my physical appearance
Unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing
Inappropriate physical contact (including momentary or brief physical contact)
Repeated or inappropriate invitations to go out on dates
Sexual gestures, indecent exposure or inappropriate display of the body
Repeated or inappropriate advances on email, social networking websites or internet chat rooms by a work colleague
Sexually explicit email or SMS message
Request or pressure for sex or other sexual act
Sexually explicit pictures, posters or gifts that made me feel offended
Sexually explicit posts or messages on social media (including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram etc.)
Inappropriate staring or leering that made me feel intimidated
Any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature
No, I have not experienced any of the above behaviours

This question is only asked if you did not answer “No” for sexual harassment

Options

Tried to laugh it off or forget about it
Pretended it didn’t bother me
Avoided the person(s) by staying away from them
Told the person the behaviour was not OK
Avoided locations where the behaviour might occur
Took time off work
Sought a transfer to another role/location/roster
Told a colleague
Told a manager
Told Human Resources
Told a friend or family member
Told someone else
Submitted a formal complaint
Told Employee Assistance Program or peer support
Other

This question is only asked if you did not answer “No” for sexual harassment

This question is only asked if you answered “Submitted a formal complaint” for “When the harassment happened, did you respond in any of the following ways?”

Options

I didn’t think it was serious enough
I didn’t think it would make a difference
I believed there would be negative consequences for my reputation (e.g. that I would be blamed or not believed or thought to be overreacting)
I believed there would be negative consequences for my career (e.g. opportunities for promotion, risk of being fired)
I believed there would be negative consequences for the person I was going to complain about
I didn’t need to because I made the harassment stop
I didn’t need to because I no longer had contact with the person(s) who harassed me
I thought the complaint process would be embarrassing or difficult
I didn’t know who to talk to
I didn’t know how to make a complaint
I didn’t feel safe to report the incident
I was advised not to
Other

Violence and aggression

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” to aggression and violence

This question is only asked if you answered “Submitted a formal incident report” for “Did you tell anyone about the incident?”

Options

I didn’t think it was serious enough
I didn’t think it would make a difference
I believed there would be negative consequences for my reputation (e.g. that I would be blamed or not believed or thought to be overreacting)
I believed there would be negative consequences for my career (e.g. opportunities for promotion, risk of being fired)
I believed there would be negative consequences for the person I was going to complain about
I didn’t need to because I made the violence or aggression stop
I didn’t need to because I no longer had contact with the person(s) who was aggressive or violent to me
I thought the complaint process would be embarrassing or difficult
I didn’t know who to talk to
I didn’t know how to make a complaint
I didn’t feel safe to report the incident
I was advised not to
Other

Witnessing negative behaviours

Have your say

Demographics

About you

This question is only asked if you answered “Yes” to “Are you a person with disability?”

This question is only asked if you answered “No” to “Have you shared your disability information within your organisation?”

Options

I do not require any adjustments to be made to perform my role
My disability does not impact on my ability to perform my role
I feel that sharing my disability information will reflect negatively on me
Other (please specify)

Your cultural identity is the group to which you feel you belong. This might be the same as your parents, grandparents or ancestors, or it may be different based on your individual experiences

Options

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
African
Australian
English, Irish, Scottish and/or Welsh
Central and/or South American
Central Asian
East and/or South-East Asian
European (including Western, Eastern and South-Eastern European, and Scandinavian)
Maori
Middle Eastern
New Zealander
North American
Pacific Islander
South Asian
Other (please specify)
Prefer not to say

This question is only asked if “No” is not selected for “Do you speak a language other than English with your family or community?”

Options

Auslan
Arabic
Australian Indigenous Language
Cantonese
Filipino
Greek
Gujarati
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Macedonian
Malayalam
Mandarin
Persian (excluding Dari)
Punjabi
Sinhalese
Spanish
Tagalog
Tamil
Telugu
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese
Other (please specify)

About your work

Adjustments allow employees to work safely and effectively. They can include adjustments to working hours, regular breaks or non-standard equipment (e.g. standing desk, screen reader, vertical mouse, Auslan interpreter, accessible lift, lighting, ramps).

Options

Physical modifications or improvements to the workplace
Flexible working arrangements
Job redesign or role sharing
Accessible communications technologies
Career development support strategies
Other (please specify)
No, I have not requested adjustments

Health only

Options

Allied health – therapy discipline (e.g., art therapy, chiropractic, dietetics, exercise physiology, music therapy, occupational therapy, oral health (not dentistry), orthotics and prosthetics, osteopathy, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology, social work, speech therapy)
Allied health – science discipline (e.g. audiology, biomedical science, diagnostic imaging medical physics, medical laboratory science, nuclear medicine, optometry, orthoptics, radiation oncology medical physics, pharmacy, radiation therapy, radiography, sonography)
Allied health – assistant (e.g. nursing assistant, personal care worker, pharmacy technician)
Community development
Counselling
Lived experience specific worker
Management, Administration and Corporate support (e.g. executive, managerial, clerical, reception, finance/accounting, HR/payroll, engineer, IT, legal, public relations, health information)
Medical employees (e.g. medical practitioners, VMOs, interns)
Nursing employees (e.g. nurse educator, midwifery & nursing professionals, enrolled and mothercraft nurses)
Other health and social care
Pastoral / spiritual care
Support services (e.g. environmental services, food services, cleaning, laundry, gardens/grounds, building/equipment maintenance, vehicles/transport, security, workshop)

Water and Land only

Options

Assets – typically includes engineers & technical officers working on planning & development, building/construction & life cycle/maintenance programmes of the corporation’s assets
Corporate – typically includes professional, managerial & administrative personnel in executive management, human resources, marketing & communications, finance, strategic purchasing, information technology, records management, risk management & OHS
Operations – typically includes scientists/technicians & operators working on systems maintenance & treatment of water & sewerage, tradesperson such as maintenance fitter & turners & electricians
Sustainability – typically includes engineers/scientists/technicians working on environmental management, recycled water, biodiversity, integrated management systems, energy efficiency, and green office strategy
Customer Service – typically includes administrative personnel working in customer service & call centres

What you do at work (Victorian Public Service organisations only)

Options

Accounting and finance
Administration
Business services
Communications and community engagement
Community services
Data analytics and research
Digital and technology
Economics
Emergency management
Engineering
Health
Human resources
Legal
Policy and strategy
Project and program management
Regulation, governance and risk
Science
Service delivery to the public (e.g. teaching, customer support or corrections)
Other (please specify)

Feedback on the survey

Options
- Extremely likely
- Likely
- Neither likely or unlikely
- Unlikely
- Extremely unlikely

Outcomes

Engagement

My organisation motivates me to help achieve its objectives

My organisation inspires me to do the best in my job

I would recommend my organisation as a good place to work

I feel a strong personal attachment to my organisation

I am proud to tell others I work for my organisation

Satisfaction

How satisfied are you with your career development within your current organisation?

How satisfied are you with the work/life balance in your current job?

Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your current job?

Wellbeing

Thinking about the past three months in your current organisation, how often has your work made you feel worried?

Thinking about the past three months in your current organisation, how often has your work made you feel miserable?

Thinking about the past three months in your current organisation, how often has your work made you feel happy?

Thinking about the past three months in your current organisation, how often has your work made you feel enthusiastic?

How would you rate your current level of work-related stress?

What are the main causes of your work-related stress?

Overall, based on your definition of burnout, how would you rate your level of burnout?

Inclusion

I can be myself at work

I feel as if I belong at this organisation

I feel culturally safe at work

During the last 12 months in your current organisation, have you experienced any barriers to your success at work due to any of the following

During the last 12 months in your current organisation, have you witnessed any barriers to the success of other employees related to any of the following

Intention to stay

I plan to work at this organisation for

Senior leadership

Senior leadership

Senior leaders provide clear strategy and direction

Senior leaders model my organisation’s values

Senior leaders demonstrate honesty and integrity

Organisation climate

Organisational integrity

My organisation takes steps to eliminate bullying, harassment and discrimination

My organisation is committed to earning a high level of public trust

My organisation encourages respectful workplace behaviours

My organisation encourages employees to act in ways that are consistent with human rights

My organisation does not tolerate improper conduct

I have an equal chance at promotion in my organisation

I believe the recruitment processes in my organisation are fair

I believe the promotion processes in my organisation are fair

Patient safety (health sector only)

Trainees in my discipline are adequately supervised

This health service does a good job of training new and existing staff

The culture in my work area makes it easy to learn from the errors of others

Patient care errors are handled appropriately in my work area

My suggestions about patient safety would be acted upon if I expressed them to my manager

Management is driving us to be a safety-centred organisation

I would recommend a friend or relative to be treated as a patient here

I am encouraged by my colleagues to report any patient safety concerns I may have

Safety climate

Senior leaders consider the psychological health of employees to be as important as productivity

Senior leaders show support for stress prevention through involvement and commitment

In my workplace, there is good communication about psychological safety issues that affect me

All levels of my organisation are involved in the prevention of stress

My organisation provides a physically safe work environment

My organisation has effective procedures in place to support employees who may experience stress

Taking action

My organisation has made improvements based on the survey results from last year

I believe my organisation will make improvements based on the results of this survey

Collaboration

I am able to work effectively with others outside my immediate workgroup

Workgroups across my organisation willingly share information with each other

Workgroup climate

Innovation climate

My workgroup is quick to respond to opportunities to do things better

My workgroup encourages employee creativity

My workgroup learns from failures and mistakes

Workgroup support

People in my workgroup work together effectively to get the job done

People in my workgroup treat each other with respect

People in my workgroup are politically impartial in their work

People in my workgroup are honest, open and transparent in their dealings

People in my workgroup appropriately manage conflicts of interest

Quality service delivery

My workgroup provides high quality advice and services

My workgroup uses its resources well

My workgroup acts fairly and without bias

My workgroup has clear lines of responsibility