Introduction
It is my pleasure to introduce the Victorian State of the public sector report, the second since my appointment in April 2023.
I feel very privileged to be the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner. I’m proud to champion employees across our sector and the essential work they’re doing in a range of fields delivering for the Victorian community.
As of June 2024, the public sector is Victoria’s largest workforce with more than 382,000 employees, making up about 10% of Victoria’s total labour force.
Our public sector includes public health services, government schools, TAFEs, police and emergency services, water and land management bodies, other statutory authorities and state-owned corporations.
The Victorian Public Service (VPS) is a subset of the public sector and includes departments and other VPS authorities/offices, such as the Essential Services Commission and the Office of Public Prosecutions.
We estimate that around 2 in every 3 public sector roles are frontline delivering essential services directly to Victorians.
Our dedicated frontline workers regularly support, engage and provide services to patients, students, people in our justice system, vulnerable children and families and others in our community. The bulk of public sector employees work in healthcare (41%) or government schools (26%).
But our frontline employees cannot do their work effectively and efficiently without their dedicated ‘back office’ colleagues. These staff include grants officers, urban planners, payroll officers, engineers, legal specialists, IT security officers, policy officers and many others. Without their work, services to the community would not be delivered when and where they are needed.
‘Back office’ employees also carry our most important responsibilities of designing, overseeing and monitoring the sector’s integrity obligations. This work is, more often than not, unseen but is essential for the sector to meet the Victorian community’s expectations of an apolitical system that operates with integrity at its core.
This year’s State of the public sector report provides insights into the size and composition of the Victorian public sector. It provides details on the types of work our public sector does, where they work, and their experiences of working in our sector.
It also flags where we need to improve or change.
As we did last year, we have included a series of stories to highlight the sector’s invaluable work for Victorians, and some of the ways workplaces have invested in capability, integrity, workforce mobility.
They celebrate work we can all be proud of and I encourage you to take a read.
Brigid Monagle
Victorian Public Sector Commissioner
A changing workforce, responding to community needs
In the year to June 2024, the public sector grew by 4.1% (or 12,450 FTE).
This was largely driven by growth in the public health workforce (7% or 7,563 FTE rise) and government schools (4.9% or 3,710 FTE rise), where numbers of doctors (15.5% or 2,148 FTE rise) and carers and aides (9.4% or 2,495 FTE rise) increased.
Over the same period, VPS workforce growth slowed to 0.1%, compared to an average yearly growth of 4.8% over the last 5 years. The number of non-frontline employees within the VPS decreased (by an estimated 1.1%), while frontline staff – such as child protection, youth justice, disability, housing and custodial workforces – increased by an estimated 4.2%.
VPS executive numbers also fell by 3.2% (1,887 executives, down 62) in the year to June 2024. This is a notable reduction compared to annual growth of 7% per annum between 2019 and 2023.
In 2024, we have also seen continued sector growth in the representation of some employee groups:
- the VPSC’s estimate of employees who identified as having a disability rose from 8.5% of the VPS in 2023 to 9.4% in 2024 and from 6.1% to 7.0% of the public sector overall
- respondents who speak a language other than English with their family and community rose from 18.7% of the public sector in 2023 to 19.0% in 2024.
A big part of this is the inclusive nature of our workplaces with 8 in 10 public sector employees agreeing that they feel culturally safe, that they belong and can be themselves at work.
Laying the groundwork for our sector to thrive
This year’s survey paints a picture of a motivated public sector workforce, committed to making a difference for Victorians. At the same time, it tells us we need to do more to support our growing frontline workforce.
The vast majority of all employees are proud to work for the public sector (81%), feel their work group provides high quality services and advice (82%) and that they can make a worthwhile contribution at work (92%).
The 2024 survey asked VPS employees for the first time ‘what influences your decision to stay working in the VPS’. Overwhelmingly, VPS employees value work that is challenging and interesting, and autonomous and supportive employment conditions, including flexible and hybrid work arrangements, are also important to them.
That said, our survey results suggest there is more to do. To gain the best from our public sector workforce, we need to focus more on improving employee wellbeing or the extent to which our employees feel enthusiastic or happy at work (48% favourable), reducing the incidence of negative behaviours such as bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination and aggression or violence (29% experienced at least one), and creating a physically and psychologically safe work environment (58% agreement). Improvements in these areas lead to stronger employee engagement, job satisfaction and retention.
This is particularly the case when it comes to our frontline workers. In 2024, frontline workers were almost twice as likely to experience aggression or violence, one and a half times as likely to experience bullying, had less capacity to speak up safely, and are more likely to experience high-severe stress than their public sector counterparts.
It is vital that we understand frontline workers’ experiences so in 2025 we are planning a review of the People matter survey to support better frontline participation.
Building capability and workforce mobility to rise to future challenges
Having an agile and skilled workforce puts the Victorian public sector in the best position to respond to significant events, challenges and changing priorities.
We know that different roles require different skillsets, but at a minimum, all public servants need expertise in core public service craft capabilities. Victorian secretaries invested in capability development to ensure we have stable and trusted institutions that uphold Westminster principles, high professional standards and an agile workforce.
People matter survey results tell us there is some room for improvement in building ‘core workforce capability to aid mobility’. In 2024, only 6 in 10 public sector employees agreed that their organisation supported them to learn and grow in their careers and were satisfied with the way their learning and development needs have been addressed.
Mobility also helps us to build a capable workforce with broad, transferrable skills. A mobile workforce is essential for the public sector to be able to respond in emergencies. Particularly as the incidences of emergencies continue to become more frequent. We particularly saw the value of such mobility in our Rapid response pilot.
It’s great to see that we are continuing to build our workforce with people who have transferrable public sector skills. Employee mobility – or employees who transferred from one VPS employer to another – has increased over time (from 2.4% in 2019 to 3.4% in 2024), despite a drop this past year which was likely due to the VPS’ budget reprioritisation in 2023-24.
Our values and integrity
In Victoria we must continue to work as efficiently and professionally as possible in the best interests of the Victorian public. More than ever in more constrained fiscal times, public sector employees must exemplify the seven public sector values in delivering value for money to the Victorian community.
Consistent with strong results from last year, more than 7 in 10 public sector employees agreed that their organisation demonstrated each of these values with a 1% increase from last year in four of the values.
The integrity value returned the lowest score at 73% and I know the sector is working hard to lift this result. There is an ongoing commitment to ensuring the highest levels of public sector integrity through investing in the core capability of our public sector workforce and in learning from each major integrity report.
In 2024, the Victorian Secretaries’ Board began delivering on the actions we committed to in 2023. Most departments have:
- increased the profile of public sector integrity through more consistent use of integrity-focused forums, conversations and capability development
- made raising integrity concerns anonymously more accessible
- embedded integrity into performance development plans.
I know many public sector entities have also made similar reforms.
I am encouraged by the 2024 People matter survey results that tell us that 74% of respondents agreed their workgroup gives frank and impartial advice to managers and leaders and 65% of those who worked with ministers and their offices agreed their workgroup gives frank and impartial advice to ministers. We are hoping to improve results like these with initiatives like our newly developed model protocol for engaging with ministerial offices.
Finally, when public sector organisations establish psychologically safe workplaces, culture improves, performance improves, and our people thrive. I am pleased to see that 70% of respondents feel safe to speak up about inappropriate behaviour or tough issues in their organisation, though we still have a way to go.
Lifting First Peoples’ employment, engagement and wellbeing
I want every workplace to be a safe place for First Nations employees where they can thrive and be fulfilled. This is important for the wellbeing and careers of our First Nations employees, and for making sure that the public sector improves how we work with community to deliver on the Victorian Government’s commitment to self-determination.
I’m heartened by what we have achieved to date with our Barring Djinang strategy in increasing the number of First Nations people employed in the VPS and delivering programs such as the Barring Djinang Leadership program.
The Barring Djinang First Peoples Workforce Development Framework 2024-2028 outlines a detailed program that includes taking steps to attract and retain more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, foster career growth and development and strengthen cultural capability across the sector.
The Commission has been working to make change, but we know First Nations employees still experience discrimination based on race, feel less safe to raise concerns and take on an often-invisible cultural load. One in ten Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander respondents experienced discrimination in the last 12 months, and almost half say the discrimination was due to race. None of this is, or ever has been, acceptable.
The Barring Djinang strategy set a target of 2% representation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees in the VPS. Since 2017, the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees in the VPS has grown from 478 employees to 760 employees. While a positive increase, growth in the public sector across this period means this only equates to a small rise to the overall workforce. Currently, the VPS workforce sits at an estimated 1.3% Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. The public sector sits at an estimated 1.15%. I acknowledge more needs to be done to achieve our goals.
Resilience, innovation and optimism
While I approach 2025 with optimism and positivity, I have no doubt there will be further challenges for the Victorian public sector.
The public sector will always be required to evolve, expand and contract to implement government priorities and meet the changing needs of the community. In the coming year we are preparing for a reduction in VPS numbers.
During these times, the Victorian community, quite rightly, expects the public sector to continue to perform our duties professionally and with integrity. The sector needs to ensure that it is focused on delivering value for money, and being transparent about its performance.
I am confident that the public sector will, as always, rise to meet this challenge with a focus on creativity, optimism and empathy.