In consultation with department secretaries, we have created these KPIs to monitor public sector performance, progress and improvement areas for the coming years.
The public sector has a critical role in:  
Our workforce can deliver the best outcomes for Victorians when we:
Monitoring progress over time is one way to look for opportunities to grow and evolve.
To track these KPIs, we compare the 2025 results with: 
We break down the KPIs in 2 ways: 
From 2026, the survey will run once a year in March instead of twice a year.
These organisations that employ over 40% of the public sector workforce did a shorter survey in September to meet gender audit reporting requirements:
As a result, 2025 whole-of-sector results are not available for 4 KPIs.
The 2025 VPS results are based on the 49 VPS organisations that completed the full survey in April 2025.
Insights from the People matter survey benefit all Victorian government organisations. 
Higher response rates give us better insights into where the public sector is doing well and where it needs to improve.
Response rates are based on the number of employees at organisations who took part in the 2025 People matter survey.
Victorian government schools do not do the People matter survey.
The response rate for the overall public sector was significantly impacted by the public health sector’s lower participation in 2025 (17% response rate for public health in 2025 compared to 34% in 2024). As a result, public health respondents also make up a smaller proportion of public sector respondents than in previous years (28% in 2025 compared to 46% in 2025)
The Victorian community is one of the most diverse societies in the world.
Our public sector should reflect the community it serves.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees bring unique knowledge, skills, insights and expertise on the needs and aspirations of their community.
The Victorian public sector launched the 5-year Aboriginal Employment Strategy Barring Djinang in 2017.
In 2025, the Barring Djinang: First Peoples Workforce Development Framework was launched as a 4-year strategy to enhance Aboriginal employment outcomes across the Victorian public sector.
We estimate the number of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees using workforce data and the People matter survey 2025 results for the public sector.
The whole public sector results do not include government schools.
The Victorian Public Service is committed to increasing:
We estimate the number of employees with disability using workforce data and the People matter survey 2024 results. 
The whole public sector results for 2024 do not include government schools.
Victoria’s Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan 2023 to 2027 is designed to create a gender-equal state.
We use the overall pay gap between women and men as one way to measure workplace gender equality.
A public sector that operates with integrity is critical to building trust and delivering services for the Victorian community. 
We measure integrity as: 
Organisations demonstrate integrity by:
This includes organisations:
These are the full responses to the organisational integrity KPI:
Victorian Public Service responses
Public sector employees demonstrate integrity by providing frank, impartial and timely advice to their managers, senior leaders and the Victorian Government.
In 2025, employees were asked separately whether they agree:
Responses to 'My workgroup gives frank and impartial advice to their managers and leaders' were:
Responses to 'My workgroup gives frank and impartial advice to their ministers' were:
The results above exclude the respondents who didn't directly work with ministers or their offices.
Employees feel safe to speak up in an environment where they can raise issues and challenge inappropriate behaviours without fear of retribution.
To come up with the safe to speak up KPI, we have combined employee responses to these 2 statements:
Victorian Public Service responses
Due to rounding, numbers may not add up to 100.
A high employee engagement score shows employees are committed to and enthusiastic about their work. It leads to improved wellbeing, higher productivity and job satisfaction.
The employee engagement index is a score out of 100.
The engagement statements are:
The weightings for each engagement response are:
The index is the average of these scores.
Safe and healthy work environments benefit employees, employers and the Victorian community.
A safe workplace is a key outcome of the Victorian public sector mental health and wellbeing charter.
This measures the degree to which public sector employees are:
Positive wellbeing leads to higher levels of engagement and productivity. This then contributes to improved motivation and retention.
To come up with the employee wellbeing KPI, we have combined employee responses in the People matter survey about positive and negative emotions.
Victorian Public Service responses
Employees who feel enthusiastic or happy at work:
Employees who feel worried or miserable at work:
Negative behaviours like bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and aggression or violence have an impact on the health, wellbeing, behaviour and performance of employees. This can contribute to high-to-severe stress.
The negative behaviour KPI combines answers for bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and aggression or violence.
Employees who did not experience any of the negative behaviours
View two slides summarising the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the public sector in 2025.