Unless stated otherwise, this workforce data shows you numbers as at June 2021.
For some visuals, we give you a breakdown of the data by:
The industry groups are:
For our data, we define these terms as:
In some tables, the individual FTE numbers may not add up to the total due to rounding.
At the end of this page, find Excel datasets for June 2015 to June 2021.
Read more about how we define the public sector or see the full list of public sector agencies.
Changes in employment are primarily due to:
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.
| 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 |
There was a net rise of 17.6% or 8,340 FTE
This included:
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.
The Department of Health and Human Services was split into:
The Department of Health now includes:
Fairer Victoria and Prevention of Family Violence Coordination:
Local Government Victoria:
Other changes include:
Administrative offices:
Victorian Public Service offices:
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 include all other public sector bodies outside the Victorian Public Service.
They generally:
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.
The sector includes publicly-owned health services and other agencies.
It excludes Ambulance Victoria which is included in the police and emergency services sector.
Up 6.3% or 5,750 FTE.
Fixed-term employees account for 26% of the rise.
The rise included:
| 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 |
The sector includes employees in government schools, primarily employed in the teaching service by the Department of Education and Training.
The teaching service employs:
School councils employ:
Up 3.8% or 2,605 FTE overall.
The breakdown of this is:
Up 4.6% or 3,038 FTE for the teaching service, including:
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.
Down 21% or 434 FTE for school council employees including:
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 |
The sector includes:
Up 2.7% or 774 FTE including:
| 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 |
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions in the sub-sectors listed in the table below.
Up 7.5% or 984 FTE including:
| 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 |
The sector includes:
Up 0.8% or 63 FTE overall.
Up 1.4% or 101 FTE including small rises and falls at other institutes.
Down 7.2% or 38 FTE including:
| 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 |
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions.
Up 2.9% or 259 FTE including:
| 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 |
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:
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.
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.
This file has Victorian public sector employment numbers, by: