4600 new public servants: Premier’s hiring spree sees costs soar

The Premier has added more than 100 extra staff to her own department, budget papers reveal.

The Premier will hire more than 100 more staff members for her department in the next financial year.

There are 59 fewer police officers on the front lines across Queensland than last year but there are 123 more government staff working in marketing, media and communication roles, new public service workforce data reveals.

The budget papers, meanwhile, reveal that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has added more than an extra 100 staff to her own department – and that the state’s public servant bill has rocketed by almost $2bn this year, to more than $32bn.

Employee and superannuation expenses will now account for more than 44 per cent of total general government sector expenses, with the state budgeted to employ 4666 extra public servants in 2023-24 – down from the 8000 additional staff hired this year after the removal of a public sector hiring freeze.

The workforce data report revealed there are now more than 251,000 public servants in Queensland, compared with about 224,000 in 2017-18.

Queensland Health remains the largest workforce in the state – with more than 105,000 workers, and that number budgeted to rise by 1057 next year.

The state’s actual education employee numbers fell short of what the state had budgeted for in 2022-23 – with money set aside for an extra 48 FTE positions than the department ended up employing.

The latest budget has forecast for an extra 434 education staff in 2023-24.

The new employee data also revealed the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) police fell from 11,966 in March 2022 to 11,907 in March of this year.

Queensland Police ended the year with 17,549 FTE employees – one higher than budgeted – with cash set aside for that number to climb to 18,350 next financial year.

In the same period, the ­number of government staff working in communication, media and marketing rose by 123 FTE, from 1067 to 1190.

The numbers in the Department of Premier and Cabinet have swelled by an additional 42 full-time employees than forecast in last year’s budget papers – climbing from 474 to 516 – with a further 73 staff ­slated to join the department next financial year.

The Premier’s spokesman explained Tuesday night that her department “leads important functions for Queenslanders and these staff, some of who have come other departments, will support agencies to deliver government priorities – including integrity reforms, temporary task forces and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

Originally published as 4600 new public servants: Premier’s hiring spree sees costs soar