Our size & shape
407,999
ongoing, temporary and casual employees
Source: Workforce Profile (2019)
equating to 337,787
full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
Source: Workforce Profile (2019), census period
Structure of the NSW public sector
The public sector
- The government sector - under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (NSW)
- Public Service
- Departments
- Executive agencies related to a department
- Separate Public Service agencies
- Police Force
- Transport Service
- Health Service
- Teaching Service
- Other Crown services#
- Public Service
- State owned corporations*
- Judicial officers
- Independent Commission Against Corruption
- Audit Office
- Staff of Members of Parliament**
- Staff of the Parliament
- Judicial Commission
# Examples of other Crown services include the TAFE Commission, School Administrative and Support Staff, and Sydney Trains.
* Under the GSE Act, State owned corporations are included in the government sector for certain, specified purposes. In this report, they are treated as part of the public sector but not the government sector.
** The Public Service Commission does not collect data on these employees.
Under the GSE Act, NSW universities are part of the government sector for certain, specified purposes. The Public Service Commission does not collect data on the employees of NSW universities. They are not considered part of the public sector or government sector in this report.
FTE by cluster
New structure
- 120,973 - 35.8% Health
- 105,744 - 31.3% Education
- 25,403 - 7.5% Transport
- 51,804 - 15.3% Stronger Communities
- 7,562 - 2.2% Customer Service
- 20,082 - 5.9% Planning, Industry and Environment
- 3,943 - 1.2% Premier and Cabinet
- 2,022 - 0.6% Treasury
Old structure
- 120,973 - 35.8% Health
- 95,139 - 28.2% Education
- 25,403 - 7.5% Transport
- 42,971 - 12.7% Justice
- 9,047 - 2.7% Family and Community Services
- 7,864 - 2.3% Finance, Services and Innovation
- 18,073 - 5.4% Industry
- 14,658 - 4.3% Planning and Environment
- 1,858 - 0.5% Premier and Cabinet
- 1,547 - 0.5% Treasury
FTE for key occupations, 2019 vs 2018
66,716 School teachers
66,481 in 2018
48,889 Nurses
47,942 in 2018
16,586 Police officers
16,221 in 2018
44,936 Clerical and administrative workers
42,947 in 2018
3,794 Firefighters
4,091 in 2018
4,218 Ambulance officers
4,030 in 2018
12,329 Medical practitioners
11,932 in 2018
23,091 School support staff
21,851 in 2018
All other key occupations
1,937 Train drivers
1,919 in 2018
5,091 Cleaners and laundry workers
4,886 in 2018
4,266 Labourers
4,233 in 2018
2,723 Bus drivers
3,756 in 2018
3,848 Prison officers
3,606 in 2018
2,023 Food preparation assistants
1,973 in 2018
7,531 Social and welfare professionals
7,303 in 2018
Source: Workforce Profile (2018, 2019), census period
Source: Workforce Profile (2010–19), census period
Note: The ‘Other’ category includes employees whose employment category is Contract Executive, Contract Non-Executive, Statutory Appointee, Transport Senior Manager or Other.
Source: Workforce Profile (2010, 2015, 2019), census period, non-casual only
Note: To provide a whole-of-sector perspective, remuneration has been aligned with the non-executive grades defined in the Crown Employees (Administrative and Clerical Officers – Salaries) Award 2007. The GSE Act provides for the Premier to determine the bands in which senior executives are employed. There are currently four bands.
3,256 Government sector senior executives in 2019
3,115 in 2018
Source: Workforce Profile (2018, 2019)
Source: Workforce Profile (2014–19)
Headcount and contribution to overall employment by NSW Region
Most public sector employees reside in Sydney. However, the sector contributes far more to overall employment in regional areas of NSW than it does to employment in the city.
NSW regions
| Region | Headcount | Contribution to employment (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter Valley excl. Newcastle | 11,431 | 8.3% |
| Mid-North Coast | 11,028 | 13.7% |
| New England & North West | 11,112 | 11.7% |
| Far West & Orana | 10,428 | 20.3% |
| Coffs Harbour — Grafton | 8,229 | 14.7% |
| Richmond — Tweed | 12,506 | 10.6% |
| Capital Region | 11,059 | 9.7% |
| Riverina | 9,757 | 10.8% |
| Murray | 5,836 | 9.2% |
| Central West | 14,341 | 13.6% |
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019); ABS (2019a)
Sydney regions
| Region | Headcount | Contribution to employment (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney East | 134,675 | 8.7% |
| Sydney West | 101,196 | 9.1% |
| Newcastle & Lake Macquarie | 24,600 | 12.2% |
| Central Coast | 16,343 | 10.2% |
| Illawarra | 16,373 | 10.8% |
| Southern Highlands & Shoalhaven | 6,066 | 10.7% |
Our people
Median agency tenure, 2019 vs 2018
8.5 years in 2019
9.0 years in 2018
Source: Workforce Profile (2018, 2019), non-casual only
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019), non-casual only; ABS (2016a, 2018a)
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019); ABS (2018b, 2018c)
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019), non-casual only; ABS (2015a, 2016b)
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019), non-casual only; ABS (2016c, 2016d)
Sources: Workforce Profile (2019), non-casual only; ABS (2015b, 2015c)
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2019)
Notes: All diversity statistics are based on self-disclosed information. Throughout this report, ‘Aboriginal peoples’ is used to refer to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The government sector is a subset of the public sector. LGBTIQ+ representation is based on the People Matter survey, which had a response rate of 52.8% in 2019.
Age band profile, 2010–19
Source: Workforce Profile (2010–19), non-casual only
Source: Workforce Profile (2015, 2019), non-casual only
Source: Workforce Profile (2019), non-casual only
Progress on the Premier’s Priority to drive diversity in the government sector
Women in senior leadership
Aboriginal people in senior leadership
People with disability
Source: Workforce Profile (2014–19), non-casual only
Note: Senior leaders are non-casual government sector employees with a salary equal to or higher than $161,707 in 2019, excluding Health roles of a specialist or technical nature with no leadership or managerial responsibilities and Justice roles with a statutory or institutional character (such as judges, magistrates and barristers).
Our performance
Customer satisfaction for consumers and businesses, 2019 vs 2018
80.6 for consumers
78.9 in 2018
Source: Customer Satisfaction Measurement Survey (2018, 2019)
77.6 for businesses
78.2 in 2018
Source: Customer Satisfaction Measurement Survey (2018, 2019)
$262bn Government sector net worth
Source: NSW Treasury Budget Statement 2019–20 (2019)
Note: This figure is an estimate.
Government sector employee-related expenses as a percentage of general NSW Government expenditure, 2019 vs 2018
46.5% in 2019
47.2% in 2018
Source: NSW Treasury Budget Statement 2019–20 (2019)
Note: The 2019 figure is an estimate.
Median salary, 2019 vs 2018
$87,926
a $2,144 or 2.5% increase from 2018
Source: Workforce Profile (2018, 2019)
Source: Workforce Profile (2009–19)
Median salary by gender
$87,926 for women
Source: Workforce Profile (2019)
$89,928 for men
Source: Workforce Profile (2019)
Gender pay gap, 2019 vs 2018: $2,002
$950 in 2018
Source: Workforce Profile (2018, 2019)
Note: Employee salary means the full-time base remuneration of the role, regardless of whether the employee is working part-time or full-time.
People Matter Survey response rate, 2019 vs 2018
52.8% in 2019
50.7% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
Employee engagement, 2019 vs 2018
65.7 in 2019
65.3 in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
Rates of self-reported experienced and witnessed bullying, 2019 vs 2018
17.9% experienced
17.8% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
32.9% witnessed
33.2% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
Employees with a performance plan, and who have informal and scheduled feedback conversations, 2019 vs 2018
71.5% employees with a performance plan
70.6% in 2018
76.3% employees who have informal feedback conversations
76.1% in 2018
59.5% employees who have scheduled feedback conversations
58.3% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
Hours of paid unscheduled absence per FTE, 2015–19
Source: Workforce Profile (2015–19), annual reference period
Employees working flexibly and satisfied with their flexible work arrangements, 2019 vs 2018
62.5% employees working flexibly
60.4% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)
58.9% employees satisfied with their flexible work arrangements
58.8% in 2018
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2018, 2019)