Unless stated otherwise, this workforce data shows you numbers as at June 2022.
This data doesn't show the machinery of government changes that came into effect on 1 January 2023.
You can use the dropdown menu at the bottom of each chart to filter the data sets.
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 2018 to June 2022.
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:
Ongoing employment rose by 1.8% (3,947 FTE) representing 66% of the total rise in public sector employment.
Casual employment rose by 18.4% (1,529 FTE) representing 25% of the total rise in public sector employment.
Fixed-term employment rose by 0.9% (519 FTE) representing the remaining 9%.
The chart below shows the number of employees by headcount and full-time equivalent. You can use the filters at the bottom of the chart to see a breakdown by industry and demographic.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departments | 9 | 40,935 | 38,893 |
| Administrative offices | 15 | 4,055 | 3,941 |
| Other Victorian Public Service employers including Victoria Police | 32 | 11,349 | 10,805 |
| Total | 56 | 56,339 | 53,639 |
There was a net fall of 3.8% or 2,096 FTE
This included:
The number of fixed-term employees rose in 2020-21 in response to COVID-19. In 2021-22 many COVID-19 programs and initiatives ended resulting in less demand for fixed-term employees.
Fixed-term employees fell at:
Unless otherwise noted, these changes occurred between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. We refer to department and entity names as they were before 30 June 2022.
Changes that occurred as of 1 July 2022 are for information purposes only and aren’t reflected in this workforce data release.
Mental Health Reform Victoria was abolished and joined the Department of Health.
Family Safety Victoria merged with The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
The Public Sector Reform and Innovation Branch:
VicRoads was abolished from 1 July 2021:
The 7 Waste and Resource Recovery Groups were abolished and joined the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
New Administrative offices are:
New Victorian Public Service offices are:
Public entities include all other public sector bodies outside the Victorian Public Service.
They generally:
We’ve adjusted the total count of employers (1,854) to not double count 10 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 4.8% or 4,675 FTE.
Fixed-term employees account for 44% of the rise compared to an average of 27% in the last 4 years.
The rise included:
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health services | 76 | 139,840 | 101,839 |
| Other health organisations | 4 | 406 | 373 |
| Total | 80 | 140,246 | 102,213 |
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 3.2% or 2,228 FTE overall.
Up 1.4% or 978 FTE for the teaching service, including:
Up 78.3% or 1,249 FTE for school council employees including:
The rise in casual relief teachers reflects a return to pre-pandemic numbers as schools opened with easing COVID-19 restrictions.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching service | 1 | 81,771 | 70,013 |
| School councils | 1,569 | 8,008 | 2,845 |
| Total | 1,570 | 89,779 | 72,858 |
The sector includes:
Up 1.8% or 548 FTE including:
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Police | 1 | 17,980 | 17,665 |
| Ambulance Victoria | 1 | 6,979 | 6,086 |
| Fire Rescue Victoria | 1 | 4,319 | 4,302 |
| Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority | 1 | 1,188 | 1,091 |
| Country Fire Authority | 1 | 1,033 | 945 |
| Victoria State Emergency Service | 1 | 243 | 219 |
| Total | 6 | 31,742 | 30,307 |
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions in the sub-sectors listed in the table below.
Up 7% or 980 FTE including:
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport agencies | 6 | 3,941 | 3,794 |
| Finance/insurance agencies | 8 | 3,727 | 3,549 |
| Sport and recreation agencies | 13 | 2,850 | 2,169 |
| Creative industries | 9 | 2,761 | 1,992 |
| Regulators | 14 | 873 | 842 |
| Facilities management | 9 | 872 | 655 |
| Cemetery trusts | 5 | 685 | 646 |
| Miscellaneous | 11 | 1,493 | 1,341 |
| Total | 75 | 17,202 | 14,989 |
The sector includes:
Down 6.2% or 492 FTE overall.
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAFE institutes | 12 | 8,869 | 6,986 |
| Other education employers | 3 | 579 | 511 |
| Total | 15 | 9,448 | 7,497 |
The sector includes agencies that deliver services and functions.
Up 1.6% or 152 FTE including:
| Responses for | Employers | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water corporations | 19 | 6,790 | 6,469 |
| Land management and planning | 20 | 2,422 | 2,263 |
| Alpine resorts | 4 | 419 | 331 |
| Catchment management authorities | 9 | 413 | 366 |
| Total | 52 | 10,044 | 9,428 |
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 2018 to June 2022.
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:
Download employment numbers over time data set (XLSX, 138kb)