Our future

The 2024 State of the sector report provides an overview of the current state of the Queensland public sector – as well as analysis on how our sector has evolved over the past five years.

The data presented offers insights on the sector’s strengths, as well as the challenges and areas that require further focus and improvement.

The Queensland public sector is the largest employer in the state of Queensland – and it is not only large but is also unique.

It is unique in the breadth of roles it encompasses, the variation in careers Queensland’s public servants can explore, the expanse of the state geographically and the diversity of the community we serve.

There is opportunity for different and unique individuals, with varied levels and types of expertise to join the Queensland public sector, secure permanent employment, and an opportunity to build a career – wherever they live in Queensland.

The Queensland public sector impacts the lives of Queenslanders every day.

This impact is felt through the work of frontline and frontline support workers as well as the commitment, behind the scenes, of the thousands of corporate staff across the state.

The Queensland public sector represents an expansive network of individuals, with different types of skills, working together to deliver services to the people of Queensland.

All these skills are needed if the sector is to meet the expectations of the community, whether those skills be in health, public safety, education, finance, procurement, human resource management, policy development or program implementation.

Our sector is transforming.

Guided by the Queensland Public Sector Act and the Even better strategy, the Queensland public sector is working to thrive in the midst of future challenges, whether they be economic, societal or environmental.

The Queensland public sector is committed to being even better – the fairest, the most agile, the most diverse, the most inclusive and the most professional public sector workforce in Australia.

The Even better strategy is being implemented through a phased approach, and work is well underway to deliver the first action plan 2024 and 2025.

Actions delivered in the next 12 months will make positive progress in:

• how we collaborate to address and resolve longer term challenges (Action 2 and Action 3)
• engaging with the community and upskilling our workforce in communication and consultation with our stakeholders (Action 5)
• planning for the professional capability and common skills needed to ensure our people are ready to meet any challenge (Action 6 and Action 7)
• bringing in the next generation of public servants to the sector through improved graduate pathways
  (Action 9)
• uplifting our leadership practice across the sector through making clearer performance expectations for chief executives and creating clear leadership and performance expectations for senior executives, senior officers and emerging leaders (Action 10 and Action 11)
• hiring and attracting new talent by promoting the diverse opportunities that exist across the sector and clearly explaining why the sector is a great place to build a career (Action 13)
• developing an induction and onboarding program on the craft of public service (Action 16)
• getting closer to our diversity targets through developing practical tools and guidance to deliver recruitment processes that align to the Act and promote a public sector workforce which represents the community it serves (Action 18).

These improvements are accompanied by our commitment to continuously improve how we capture data about our sector and report on the size and composition of our workforce and their experiences.

The Queensland public sector is committed to publishing a State of the sector report annually.

We are also committed to publishing an even better State of the sector report, each year.

The 2025 State of the sector report will evolve in response to customer testing and feedback. It will focus on the state of the sector in terms of the size, composition and experience – as well as the progress made towards achieving the objectives of the Even better strategy.