State of the sector report
Watch the introductory video from the Queensland Public Sector Commissioner David Mackie.
On behalf of the Queensland Public Sector Commission, I am pleased to share with you the State of the sector report for 2024.
This new format for transparent employment reporting provides comprehensive data, analysis and insights about Queensland’s largest workforce – the Queensland public sector.
With a workforce of over 308,000 strong, these dedicated public servants go to work each day committed to making a difference to the lives of Queenslanders.
Working across the state in frontline, frontline support and corporate roles – our people are here for you, working for Queenslanders every day.
From the midwife delivering our newest Queenslander, to the behind-the-scenes hospital support staff who provide fresh linen, manage the IT systems, pay our workers and communicate important health messages.
They are the transport workers issuing your licence – and those planning and managing major infrastructure projects.
They are our educators, our policy makers, our police, and our child safety workers.
And these are only just some of the roles and services that make such a difference to Queenslander’s lives. The release of the State of the sector report in this new format gives greater transparency to who makes up our public sector, what they do, where they work and how they feel about working in the sector.
It also gives the public access to more data, more detailed explanations, and more insight than ever before about our workforce and our performance.
The report analyses workforce statistics, employee opinion survey results and conduct and performance data –linking our operating environment with insight about our people, diversity, work environment, performance and future.
Publishing the 2024 State of the sector report is a key milestone in the Even better public sector for Queensland strategy – which was launched in March 2024.
While this is a big step forward for transparent employment reporting, it is just the beginning.
The State of the Sector Report will be published annually and each year we will learn from the last, by listening to the feedback – helping us to continually deliver an Even Better public sector for Queensland.
I invite you to explore the report to learn more about the great workforce that serves our communities.
The State of the sector report provides a comprehensive overview of data, analysis and insights on Queensland’s largest workforce – the Queensland public sector.
The report details structure, size and composition of the workforce, the performance of the sector, and the experience of employees. It provides an understanding of the legislation and strategies that will guide the sector into the future.
This report uses data from multiple sources:
- workforce data – Minimum Obligatory Human Resource Information (MOHRI)
- Working for Queensland survey data
- Conduct and performance data.
In previous years, Queensland Government workforce statistics were published twice a year in the March or September biannual workforce profile. This new annual State of the sector format provides access to more data, more detailed explanations and more insights than ever before about the Queensland public sector workforce. Any data that was previously presented in the biannual profile, but is not included in the State of the sector report, can be accessed via the open data portal.
There are processes in place to continually review and improve data quality for reporting. This has resulted in minor adjustments to some very few figures that are published in prior profile reports.
The Working for Queensland survey is an annual employee survey. In 2023, 69,090 people across sixty-eight agencies in the Queensland public sector participated in the survey. This equated to a 33% response rate.
Conduct and performance data comprises the number of employees assessed and managed for unsatisfactory conduct or performance. It identifies the severity of the matter (category), the timeframe taken to address the matter, and the outcome.
Bringing all of this data together in one annual State of the sector report aligns with the Let the sunshine in: Review of culture and accountability in the Queensland public sector report (Coaldrake report), to provide sector data in a format that is easy to use to improve openness, transparency and accountability within the Queensland public sector.
The report can also be accessed in full .
Our operating environment
Find out about the legislation and strategy that guide the way we work, make decisions and operate.
Our future
Learn about our focus for an even better public sector.
Case studies
Discover experiences and success stories from across the Queensland public sector.
Resources and related information
Access resources, data and links used in the State of the sector report.