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The NSW government is ripping off nurses, teachers, midwives, transport workers, and more.

Public sector workers in the Hunter region have lost $16,700 a year from their wages as a result of pay freezes by the Liberal State government, according to the new report Public Services in the Hunter: An Engine of Economic and Social Prosperity by the Centre of Future Work.

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Millions of dollars lost that would have circulated in communities and enriched the local economy.

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Public Services in the Hunter:

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An Engine of Economic and Social Prosperity

A new report prepared by the Centre of Future Work reveals the provision of essential public services generates far-reaching economic and social benefits for the Hunter region, injecting billions of dollars into the local community and supporting tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

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 It is vital to the prosperity of the whole region that public services are supported and well-funded by the next state government.

Dr Jim Stanford,
Economist and Director of the Centre of Future Work
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Public sector jobs make up at least 35% of total Hunter region employment

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Inadequate funding by the state government of vital public services

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Major findings of the report:

Highlights

  • Four sectors in which public provision is especially important (including health care, education, public administration and safety, and transportation) account for 35% of total Hunter region employment, and 85% of net job growth, in the last 5 years.  

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  • State-funded services alone account for almost 30,000 direct full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in the Hunter region, making this sector the largest single employer in the region. Those services add over $3 billion per year to regional GDP.

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  • Combined wages and salaries for state public sector workers in the Hunter total $2.65 billion per year – constituting an enormous injection of household income and spending power into the regional economy.

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  • State-funded service providers in the Hunter (including hospitals and schools) purchase some $1.3 billion worth of “upstream” inputs, materials, supplies, and services from private businesses in the public sector supply chain.

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  • Consumer spending by state public service workers in the Hunter (and those in the supply chain) adds $1.75 billion to the sales of consumer goods and services businesses, most of them located right in this region.

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  • For every 10 direct jobs in state-funded public services, there are another 5 indirect jobs in upstream supply chain and downstream consumer industries. In total, 45,000 regional jobs (public and private) depend on continued provision of high-quality state public services.

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  • Public sector jobs are an especially important source of work and income for women. Women account for 64% of jobs in major Hunter public sector industries. The gender wage gap in public services is much smaller (12% for full-time ordinary earnings) than in the private sector.

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  • Public services are especially important in regional areas, due to dispersed and older populations; greater distances between communities; and limited alternative employment opportunities. State service jobs (FTEs) make up 11.4% of all employment in the Hunter, 2 percentage points more than in Sydney.

For further information on the report, or to arrange comment, please contact Leigh Shears: leighshears@hunterworkers.com.au

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