❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding public sector job growth, costs, and efficiencies since the current government took office. The Premier provides data on job creation in both public and private sectors, salary expenses, and the impact of Machinery of Government reforms.
AnsweredQoN 5428Legislative Assembly
Asked
27 August 2019
Member
Portfolio
Premier; Minister for Public Sector Management; State Development, Jobs and Trade; Federal-State Relations
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to recently announced public service job data in The Australian newspaper, and ask: (a) Of the total percentage of job growth in Western Australia in the previous twelve months, can the Premier provide statistics on how many new jobs have been created in the private and government sectors; (b) What is the total cost of jobs created within the public sector to taxpayers since it came into Government; (c) What additional services and efficiencies have the new positions created; and (d) Can the Premier provide information on how many positions have been created in each Government agency/department?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 October 2019
Response time
12 days
(a) There are a number of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates of public sector employment. The best ABS measure of public sector employment is Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia, published on an annual basis. This shows that public sector employment in WA increased by an estimated 1700 people between 2016-17 and 2017-18. Deducting this estimate from total employment growth of 28 500 over the same period implies that private sector employment increased by 26 800 people. Public sector data for 2018-19 will be published in November 2019.
(b) The Annual Report on State Finances, published in September each year reported that general government sector salaries expense over the three years to 2018-19 was:
Salaries are part of aggregate costs and increases in one class of spending have in part been addressed by reductions in other classes of spending. The 2019-20 Budget forecasts expense growth to remain at an average of just 1.3 per cent per year across the four years to 2022-23. The Budget also shows that total salary costs are forecast to increase by 1.6 per cent in 2019-20 and 1.9 per cent on average across the four years to 2022-23. This follows headline growth in salaries of 0.6 per cent in 2018-19 and compares to an average of 5.8 per cent per annum over the preceding decade.
(c) Between March 2017 and March 2019, the WA Public Sector grew at 2 per cent or 2204 FTE. This growth has mainly occurred in the delivery of ‘frontline services’ for which numbers of required personnel are predominantly determined by demand:
(d) No. It is not possible to identify changes by agency since March 2017 due to Machinery of Government reforms.
(b) The Annual Report on State Finances, published in September each year reported that general government sector salaries expense over the three years to 2018-19 was:
Salaries are part of aggregate costs and increases in one class of spending have in part been addressed by reductions in other classes of spending. The 2019-20 Budget forecasts expense growth to remain at an average of just 1.3 per cent per year across the four years to 2022-23. The Budget also shows that total salary costs are forecast to increase by 1.6 per cent in 2019-20 and 1.9 per cent on average across the four years to 2022-23. This follows headline growth in salaries of 0.6 per cent in 2018-19 and compares to an average of 5.8 per cent per annum over the preceding decade.
(c) Between March 2017 and March 2019, the WA Public Sector grew at 2 per cent or 2204 FTE. This growth has mainly occurred in the delivery of ‘frontline services’ for which numbers of required personnel are predominantly determined by demand:
(d) No. It is not possible to identify changes by agency since March 2017 due to Machinery of Government reforms.
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