Victoria Public Service Jobs Face Cuts: Independent Review Launched
Thousands of public service jobs in Victoria are on the chopping block following an announcement by the state’s new treasurer, Jaclyn Symes. An independent review has been commissioned to identify areas for cost-cutting and streamlining within the Victorian Public Service (VPS) in an effort to bring the budget under control.
Review Headed by Former Top Official
Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes revealed the review on Thursday, appointing Helen Silver, a banking executive and former head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, to lead the initiative. Silver previously served under former premiers John Brumby and Ted Baillieu.
Key Objectives of the Public Service Review
The review’s terms of reference outline several key goals:
- Reduce the VPS workforce to pre-pandemic levels, representing a 5% to 6% reduction (approximately 2,000 to 3,000 jobs).
- Identify programs eligible for streamlining or complete elimination.
- Pinpoint overlaps, inefficiencies, and redundant functions within the VPS.
- Provide recommendations for process improvements.
- Examine the appropriate levels of executive positions.
Timeline and Expected Outcomes
Treasurer Symes stated that an interim report from Silver is expected in April, with its findings to be reflected in the May budget. A final report is due by the end of June, which Symes committed to releasing publicly. She expressed her intention to accept all recommendations.
“This is needed to address the budget recurrent problem that we have,” Symes emphasized. “This is what the purpose of the review is all about.”
She confirmed “There’ll be hard decisions for government to make but I’m determined that this work can’t be for nothing,”
Exemptions and Focus Areas
Certain state agencies, including integrity bodies and the department managing parliament, are excluded from the review. However, ministerial offices will be included. Premier Allan stressed that frontline roles such as child protection workers, nurses, police officers, and teachers will not be affected.
“This review is about helping to make sure that the public services delivered here in Victoria continue to be focused on those frontline services, on those priorities of working people and Victorian families – investing in good schools, in hospitals, in safer communities,” Allan stated.
Past Efforts and Current Challenges
The 2023/24 budget, under former Treasurer Tim Pallas, included plans to reduce the public service by 3,000 to 4,000 workers. Despite this, the number of public sector employees slightly increased between July 2023 and June 2024. The 2024/25 wage bill reached $36.53 billion, nearly double the figure when Labor first came to power in 2014.
In Allan’s first budget for 2024/25, additional “savings and efficiencies” totaling $1.79 billion were identified, such as ending the sick pay guarantee and cutting public-sector office space and government advertising.
Treasurer’s Commitment to Results
Symes, who assumed the treasurer role in late December following Pallas’s resignation, acknowledged that previous cost-cutting attempts had not been successful. “I’m the new treasurer of the state,” she said. “I’m determined that this process will deliver results.”
Union and Opposition Response
The Community and Public Sector Union Secretary, Karen Batt, criticized the government’s approach, stating, “VPS has already delivered over $5bn in savings from the last three budgets’ crazy, ill thought-through proposals, [which] end up costing the government more as our population booms and demand for services grows. We’ll fight it.”
Opposition treasury spokesperson James Newbury dismissed the review as a “hoax,” predicting it would not achieve meaningful outcomes. “Jacinta Allan is an absolute queen of covering not governing,” he said.
Related: ‘Teaching to an empty hall’: is the changing face of universities eroding standards of learning?
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