Victoria’s bloated public sector has avoided the deepest cuts recommended by Helen Silver’s review, with just 29 of 500 public entities and boards to be axed.
The Allan government will strip 332 executive and senior technical jobs out of the Victorian Public Service and 1000 jobs in total across the public sector, about half the number recommended by the state’s former top bureaucrat.
The government claims these measures, combined with reducing its use of consultants and office space freed up by public servants working from home, will save the budget more than $4 billion over the next four years.
Among the most significant changes, Victoria’s independent health promotions agency VicHealth will cease to exist as a standalone entity and be absorbed into the Department of Health.
Infrastructure Victoria will be “refocused” with a reduced budget after the government did not accept the review’s recommendation to abolish it.
Sustainability Victoria, Cladding Safety Victoria, the Trade and Investment Board, the Latrobe Health Assembly, the Victorian Public Sector Commission Advisory Board, the Victorian Marine and Coastal Council and the Road Safety Camera Commissioner and Reference Group will all be wound up.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Premier Jacinta Allan announcing the findings of the Silver review on Friday.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Some existing entities will be merged, with Recycling Victoria folding into the Environment Protection Authority and multiple registration boards consolidated into a new Business and Processions Regulator.
The government rejected a recommendation to cease the rollout of government-funded Early Learning and Childcare Centres and shift them into the hands of private providers, a reform which would have booked savings of more than $350 million.