Qld public service cost nears $100k per FTE, as numbers grow

The average cost of a Queensland public servant has jumped almost 12 per cent in five years, while their ranks continue to grow, the latest state audit report shows.

THE average cost of a Queensland public servant has jumped almost 12 per cent in five years, coming in at just under $100,000 per full-time-equivalent, the latest state audit report shows.

Auditor-General Brendan Worrell’s financial audit report for the 2017-18 financial year confirmed both the number of staff employed by the State and the average cost of those staff was on the increase.

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“Employee expenses for the total state sector increased from $22.8 billion to $24.4 billion,” Mr Worrell said in his report, tabled in State Parliament yesterday.

“The increases in employee costs mostly relates to the general government sector, rising from $21.3 billion to $22.7 billion — an increase of 6.7 per cent.”

Almost 250,000 public servants were on the state’s payroll in the 2017-18 financial year, up over 3 per cent on the previous year and almost 13 per cent over five years, with the cost per employee also growing.

“Average cost per FTE has grown from $88,664 to $99,197 over the past five years — an increase of 11.9 per cent,” the report found.

“Over the five years from 2014, the number of FTEs has grown by 27 745 — an increase of 12.7 per cent.

“These increases have mostly occurred in the health and education sectors.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her Labor Government have come under fire for ballooning public servant numbers, in the wake of the former LNP government’s slashing of thousands of positions.