Our purpose is to enable the public sector to deliver great results and outcomes for the community.

Employing more than 100,000 South Australians, our public sector is the largest employer in the State.

The South Australian public sector is the administrative arm of the Government of South Australia, accountable to the relevant ministers, the Premier, and Parliament.

Agencies within our sector, variously called departments, commissions, authorities and services, are responsible for:

  • advising the government on policy matters
  • implementing government decisions and parliamentary legislation
  • delivering public services such as health care, education, policing, emergency services, natural resource management, and public transport.

We bring together a number of central functions including:

  • the statutory responsibilities of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment
  • reform and renewal
  • leadership development
  • HR policy development and advice
  • workforce data analysis and strategy development
  • salary sacrifice
  • work, health, safety and workers’ compensation, and
  • performance and policy.

We are an attached office within the Attorney-General's Department. An attached office is an administrative unit with increased reporting responsibilities and has a Chief Executive appointed by the Premier in accordance with the Public Sector Act 2009. Being an attached office strengthens our independence.

Our strategic goals articulate our vision, purpose, what success looks like, and how we’ll get there. The plan sets five key goals that guide our work and enable us to measure our success.

These goals are:

  1. Enhance workforce performance and potential
  2. Advance current and future leaders
  3. Shape the future workforce
  4. Advance systems and data
  5. Inclusive, safe and ethical public sector

Our strategic goals

South Australian public sector agencies and employees provide many essential services to the community and we work with them to help them to deliver their best.

In particular, we:

We work closely with government, non-government organisations, industry and the community to harness the full potential of the public sector workforce and consistently deliver excellence. To find out more about our work, you can read our State of the Sector reports or our Workforce Information Report.