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Key facts
Workforce figures
- 345,866 people employed or 284,819 FTE at June 2021
- 10% of the Victorian labour force
- 1,840 employers
- 7.1% (18,774 FTE) rise in total employment between June 2020 and June 2021.
Major changes in employment
Changes in employment are primarily due to:
- increased investment in infrastructure projects
- the COVID-19 response
- Machinery of Government changes.
Fixed-term employment rose by 9,645 FTE, representing 51% of the rise in public sector employment and 75% of the rise in the Victorian Public Service.
The rise in fixed-term employment was to meet temporary peak demand.
Rises in employment
- 17.6% rise (8,340 FTE) in the Victorian Public Service
- 6.3% rise (5,750 FTE) in public healthcare
- 4.6% rise (3,038 FTE) in the teaching service
- 7.5% rise (984 FTE) in creative industries, finance transport and other
- 3% rise (681 FTE) in Ambulance Victoria and police
- 6.4% rise (201 FTE) in the water corporations servicing Greater Melbourne.
Fall in employment
- 21.4% fall (434 FTE) in school council employees
Employee numbers
Victorian Public Service (17% of public sector employees)
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departments | 9 | 40,899 | 38,825 |
| Other Victorian Public Service employers including Victoria Police | 29 | 10,679 | 10,165 |
| Administrative offices | 17 | 6,874 | 6,745 |
| Total | 55 | 58,452 | 55,735 |
Changes in numbers
There was a net rise of 17.6% or 8,340 FTE
- Ongoing employment rose 5.4% or 2,024 FTE
- Fixed-term employment rose 67.7% or 6,266 FTE, representing 75% of the total Victorian Public Service rise.
This included:
- 3,062 FTE associated with the establishment of COVID Quarantine Victoria
- 2,008 FTE rise at the Department of Health and the Department of Families Fairness and Housing (these 2 departments formed when the Department of Health and Human Services split in February 2021)
- 626 FTE rise at the Department of Justice and Community Services
- 649 FTE rise at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
- 391 FTE rise at the Department of Transport
- 352 FTE rise at the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning
- 380 FTE rise at the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority combined
- 260 FTE rise at the Department of Education and Training
- 211 FTE rise at Court Services Victoria.
Machinery of Government changes, 2020 to 2021
Unless otherwise noted, these changes occurred between 30 June 2020 and 30 June 2021.
Changes that occurred as of 1 July are for information purposes only and aren’t reflected in this workforce data release.
Changes in Victorian Public Service departments
The Department of Health and Human Services was split into:
- Department of Health
- Department of Families Fairness and Housing.
The Department of Health now includes:
- the Administrative office, Victorian Agency for Health Information
- the Administrative office, Mental Health Reform, as of 1 July 2021.
Fairer Victoria and Prevention of Family Violence Coordination:
- left the Department of Premier and Cabinet
- joined the Department of Families Fairness and Housing.
Local Government Victoria:
- left the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
- joined the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
Other changes include:
- Western Region Water joined City West Water
- Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority joined the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee
- Djerriwarrh Health Service joined Western Health, as of 1 July 2021
- Paid firefighters from Country Fire Authority moved to Fire Rescue Victoria (formerly known as Metropolitan Fire Brigade).
New Victorian Public Service employers
Administrative offices:
- COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria: 153 FTE employees moved from the Department of Health and Human Services
- Invest Victoria: 64.6 FTE employees moved from the Department of Treasury and Finance
- the Victorian Skills Authority, as of 1 July 2021.
Victorian Public Service offices:
- Cladding Safety Victoria: 63 FTE employees moved from the Victorian Building Authority
- Wage Inspectorate Victoria, as of 1 July 2021.
New Public sector employer
- Mildura Base Public Hospital (previously a private-sector employer).
Impact of COVID-19
To meet service needs in responding to COVID-19, some employees temporarily transferred from one department or agency to another.
For this data, employees are counted as part of their home department or agency, not the one they’ve temporarily transferred to.
Public entities by all industry groups (83% of public sector employees)
Public entities include all other public sector bodies outside the Victorian Public Service.
They generally:
- have different degrees of autonomy
- are governed by a board
- have authority to employ their own staff.
We’ve adjusted the total count of employers (1,840) to not double count 9 organisations that have both Victorian Public Service and non-Victorian Public Service employees.
Public healthcare (39% of public sector employees)
The sector includes publicly-owned health services and other agencies.
It excludes Ambulance Victoria which is included in the police and emergency services sector.
Change in numbers
Up 6.3% or 5,750 FTE.
Fixed-term employees account for 26% of the rise.
The rise included:
- 2,487 FTE nurses
- 1,359 FTE administration employees
- 859 FTE medical and ancillary support employees
- 599 FTE hotel and allied services employees
- 423 FTE doctors.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health services | 81 | 133,111 | 97,246 |
| Other health organisations | 4 | 333 | 292 |
| Total | 85 | 133,444 | 97,538 |
Government schools (25% of public sector employees)
The sector includes employees in government schools, primarily employed in the teaching service by the Department of Education and Training.
The teaching service employs:
- teachers
- principals
- teaching support
- administrative and ancillary staff.
School councils employ:
- casual relief teachers
- additional casual administrative and ancillary staff funded by the school to meet local requirements.
Change in numbers
Up 3.8% or 2,605 FTE overall.
The breakdown of this is:
Teaching service rises
Up 4.6% or 3,038 FTE for the teaching service, including:
- 2,040 FTE teachers
- 814 FTE education support staff.
Fixed-term employees account for 43% of the rise, including 873 FTE teachers and 351 FTE education support staff.
The rise includes the engagement of tutors to support home learning.
School council falls
Down 21% or 434 FTE for school council employees including:
- casual relief teachers fell 31% or 266 FTE
- other school council employees fell 14% or 168 FTE.
The fall in casual relief teachers was influenced by employees who were engaged as tutors.
COVID-19 restrictions contributed to lower demand for employees.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching service | 1 | 80,809 | 69,035 |
| School councils | 1,561 | 6,183 | 1,596 |
| Total | 1,562 | 86,992 | 70,631 |
Police and emergency services (9% of public sector employees)
The sector includes:
- Victoria Police sworn officers
- protective service officers
- emergency service agency employees
- Ambulance Victoria.
Change in numbers
Up 2.7% or 774 FTE including:
- 637 FTE rise in sworn police
- 167 FTE fall in protective service officers
- 211 FTE rise in Ambulance Victoria.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Police | 1 | 18,248 | 17,933 |
| Ambulance Victoria | 1 | 6,249 | 5,506 |
| Fire Rescue Victoria | 1 | 4,254 | 4,237 |
| Country Fire Authority | 1 | 992 | 919 |
| Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority | 1 | 1,047 | 955 |
| Victoria State Emergency Service | 1 | 235 | 209 |
| Total | 6 | 31,025 | 29,759 |
Creative industries, finance, transport and other (5% of public sector employees)
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions in the sub-sectors listed in the table below.
Change in numbers
Up 7.5% or 984 FTE including:
- 305 FTE rise at VicRoads, primarily fixed-term employees to address a backlog in licence processing
- 266 FTE rise in finance agencies including 153 FTE rise at the Victorian Workcover Authority
- 94 FTE rise in creative Industries agencies reflecting a partial recovery in activity following the COVID-19 shut down at June 2020.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport agencies | 6 | 3,962 | 3,831 |
| Finance / insurance agencies | 8 | 3,615 | 3,438 |
| Creative industries | 9 | 2,409 | 1,792 |
| Sport and recreation agencies | 12 | 2,570 | 1,872 |
| Facilities management | 9 | 530 | 417 |
| Cemetery trusts | 5 | 622 | 591 |
| Regulators | 14 | 851 | 823 |
| Miscellaneous | 9 | 1,403 | 1,246 |
| Total | 72 | 15,962 | 14,009 |
TAFE and other education (3% of public sector employees)
The sector includes:
- TAFE Institutes
- AMES Australia
- Victorian Institute of Teaching
- Vocational Education and Training Development Centre.
Change in numbers
Up 0.8% or 63 FTE overall.
TAFE institutes
Up 1.4% or 101 FTE including small rises and falls at other institutes.
Other education employers
Down 7.2% or 38 FTE including:
- 41 FTE fall at AMES Australia due to a fall in immigration.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAFE institutes | 12 | 9,669 | 7,505 |
| Other education employers | 3 | 553 | 484 |
| Total | 15 | 10,222 | 7,989 |
Water and land management (3% of public sector employees)
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions.
Change in numbers
Up 2.9% or 259 FTE including:
- 136 FTE fall at Parks Victoria
- 237 FTE rise in water corporations primarily in City West Water and Western Region Water in response to growth in Melbourne’s west, and Melbourne Water, Yarra Valley Water, and South East Water
- 41 FTE rise in the alpine resorts representing a partial recovery in activity following the COVID-19 shut down at June 2020.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water corporations | 20 | 6,746 | 6,445 |
| Land management and planning | 20 | 2,222 | 2,049 |
| Catchment management authorities | 10 | 420 | 371 |
| Alpine resorts | 4 | 381 | 293 |
| Total | 54 | 9,769 | 9,159 |
Employee numbers over time
By headcount
By full-time equivalent
Notes on time-series data
Due to the transfer of direct care staff from the Department of Health and Human Services to national Disability Insurance Scheme providers, there was a fall of:
- 2,887 employees or 2,306 FTE as at June 2019 compared to June 2018
- 2,518 employees or 1,980 FTE as at June 2020 compared to June 2019.
At June 2019, 2,709 employees or 2,628 FTE had transferred from the public entities of VicRoads and Public Transport Victoria to the Victorian Public Service’s Department of Transport and Major Transport Infrastructure Authority.
Data set
This data set covers June 2015 to June 2021.
We source this data from our annual workforce and executive data collections that cover over 1,800 Victorian public sector employers.
Employee numbers over time
This file has Victorian public sector employment numbers, by:
- headcount and FTE
- industry group, gender and Aboriginal identity
- Victorian Public Service grade and occupation-specific classifications.