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The Public Sector Industry consists of the governments of the Commonwealth, States and Territories. For the purpose of the VET system, the Public Sector Industry includes the administrative and management levels of government and operational specialisations not covered in other industries.
 The public sector has undergone major change in the last 20 years and continues to experience increased and changing demands for services, as well as employment changes which impact on skill needs. Substantial down-sizing has occurred and the Commonwealth public sector continues to decline while State/Territory jurisdictions remain stable or with minor increases mainly in education and health and community services. Changes in employment include reduced level of permanent/ongoing employment, increases in contract, part-time and casual employment, significantly reduced numbers of young employees, base grade positions and traditional apprenticeships, ageing of the workforce, higher turnover rates, more flexible working arrangements and more flexible employment conditions including work/life balance arrangements.
Structural change has occurred through greater contestability of public services, privatisation, asset sales, corporatisation, outsourcing and changes in machinery of government through frequent restructuring of portfolio and agency arrangements and responsibilities. Changes in workplace culture and organisation include devolved responsibilities for financial and human resource management, replacement of strong central control with frameworks, advisory, consultancy, support and monitoring approaches, increased focus on outputs and outcomes, a shift from EEO to a broader concept of diversity in employment, greater emphasis on efficient, ethical, accountable and customer service cultures, more contract management of outsourced arrangements, a growing focus on whole-of-government, integrated services and partnerships in the approach to complex issues and community demands and very significant increased use of information and communications technology.
The trends of the last 10 years are likely to continue, with minimal increases in employment at a State/Territory level in education and health and community services. Of increasing importance will be flexible and fluid working arrangements related to structural change, legislative and policy demands across a wide range of areas (e.g. ethics, financial management and accountability and privacy), demands for new and improved services (e.g. for an ageing population, and in regional and rural areas), projects, partnerships, whole-of-government and integrated services across levels of government. There will be greater demands on employees to be multi-skilled, flexible, adaptable, open to change, performance driven, customer-focussed and with technological skills.
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