NT’s ballooning public service has grown by 3000 in two years, new data shows

THE Northern Territory’s ballooning public service has grown by more than 3000 positions over the last two years, a new report shows

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THE Northern Territory’s ballooning public service has grown by more than 3000 positions over the last two years, a new report shows.

The Commissioner for Public Employment’s annual report for 2019-20, which was tabled in parliament last night, shows the NT public service had 23,590 employees as at last pay in June.

This is a notable jump from about 20,000 that were employed in 2018.

It comes after public servants quietly received a 2.5 per cent pay increase this year.

The annual report shows the number of the Territory’s public service full-time equivalents has steadily continued to rise since 2016, while the NT’s population has declined.

There were some positions cut in government administration with 45 executive officer positions scrapped in the last year and seven executive managers cut at Power and Water.

About 67 per cent of NT’s public service employees are based in Darwin, while 18 per cent are in Central Australia.

When comparing the distribution of men and women across salary groups, women represent a higher percentage of the public service’s workforce in the low to mid-range salary levels (up to $80,000 per annum).

Men are increasingly represented in the mid to high-range salary levels, with most significant disparity occurring at salary levels of $140,000 per annum and above.

It comes after the Chief Minister Michael Gunner revealed the NT Government would shrink from 15 departments to 11, saving an estimated $5 million.

He confirmed jobs would be lost as part of the move but said no one would be sacked.

The NT News understands about 20 ministerial staffers have also recently left their position on Territory Parliament’s fifth floor as part of a post-election staffing shake-up.