People matter survey data, facts and visuals (state of the public sector)
Get data, facts and visuals from our annual public sector employee survey
Find survey data
See data on:
- Organisation climate and support
- Employee and manager experiences
- Public sector values
- Employee wellbeing
- Drivers of employee wellbeing
- Negative behaviour
- Demographics and diversity
- Results by public sector organisation
Survey response rate by industry: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021
This graph shows you the percentage of survey respondents across each industry from 2016 to 2021.
The distribution of survey respondents is similar to the distribution of the public sector workforce, excluding public schools.
We don’t show the data from 2020 as some organisations couldn’t take part in the 2020 survey as they were responding to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Therefore, the 2020 data isn’t a true representation of the public sector.
We reserve the right to change or correct information at any time.
Number of survey responses and percentage of total responses by industry, 2021
In total, 92,008 Victorian public sector employees voluntarily responded to the People matter survey 2021.
Creative industries, finance, transport and other
- 5384 respondents
- 6% of total respondents
Police and emergency services
- 8174 respondents
- 9% of total respondents
Public health care
- 37,889 respondents
- 41% of total respondents
TAFE and other education
- 6261 respondents
- 7% of total respondents
Water and land management
- 4056 respondents
- 4% of total respondents
Victorian Public Service
- 30,243 respondents
- 33% of total respondents
About the People matter survey
The People matter survey is the Victorian public sector’s annual employee opinion survey.
We run the survey to support public sector organisations to build positive workplace cultures with integrity that live the public sector values.
The survey results tell organisations how employees see their workplaces, including views on:
- employee engagement and job satisfaction
- career opportunities, learning and development
- employee wellbeing
- diversity and inclusion climate
- equal employment opportunity
- job demands, resources and support
Organisations use the results to work out how to improve the workplace for their employees.
Changes to the survey in 2021
In 2021, you’ll see:
- annual participation of all public sector organisations
- public release of all organisations’ results
- refinement to the survey, survey framework and reporting based on academic analysis and user feedback
- up to date survey platform with an improved user experience, dashboard reporting and action planning tools
- new questions developed in consultation with the Commissioner for Gender Equality in the Public Sector to support organisations to report on progress against the Gender Equality Act 2020
Resources for survey coordinators
For survey coordinator resources, go to People matter survey 2021 resources.