Working for Queensland survey results not yet released, flying in the face of Coaldrake reforms

A multimillion-dollar government public service survey still hasn’t been released eight months after it was undertaken, despite the Coaldrake report warning a “culture of cynicism” would form without “openness”.

A major government survey designed to gauge the climate and attitude of public servants is yet to be released eight months on, despite a landmark integrity inquiry warning a “culture of cynicism” would form without “openness”.

The 2022 edition of the Working for Queensland survey is yet to be released, with the Public Sector Commission pointing to the need for “significant changes” in how the data will be “presented and publicly released” after a redesign.

It can be revealed the redesign and implementation of the survey, according to contract disclosure logs, cost taxpayers at least $2.128m.

According to the PSC the Working for Queensland survey was redesigned in 2022 to “gather new data and simplify how public sector agencies understand and use their findings”

The PSC has provided no timeline on when the data from the survey, meant to be filled in by the state’s approximately 240,000 public servants in September, will be publicly released.

And the data will only be presented in PDF form and not on the Queensland Government’s Open Data portal in numerical-friendly spreadsheets.

A spokesman for the PSC said the decision was made in 2020 to “stop replicating data in open data tables” due to “extremely low use”.

It’s understood the Queensland Police Service’s Working for Queensland survey results were particularly scathing of leadership, with the feedback from other departments expected to be similar.

Professor Peter Coaldrake at QUT’s Garden Point campus in Brisbane CBD.

One of the major recommendations of the landmark Coaldrake review into government integrity last year called for the “rejuvenation of the capability and capacity of the Queensland public sector be a major and concerted focus”

Professor Peter Coaldrake, in the report, warned the “weakness” of the Working for Queensland survey was that only some agencies invited open-ended comment, and those thoughts remained in the hands of the Director-General.

“A commitment to openness and integrity also requires that these results be shared openly with staff. Any other approach undermines accountability and generates a culture of cynicism which ultimately undermines performance,” the report stated.

Opposition government integrity spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said the public service needed to feel “valued and empowered”, accusing the current government of no longer “listening to them”.

“Not releasing these results sends a message to the public service their opinions count for less than protecting the image of the Ministers who have presided over a rotting culture,” she said.

“How is not releasing these results letting the sunshine in?”

The PSC is also yet to release the crucial report which details how many public servants, like teachers, doctors and nurses, work for the state government.

Data quality concerns were blamed for the delay in releasing the September 2022 workforce report. There is no timeline on when the data will be made available.