As at 30 June 2019, the department had:
- 92,644 employees, made up of 73,970.78 full-time equivalent (FTE)
- approximately 94% of workforce based in a school
- 2106.69 FTEs (2.8% of the total workforce) providing corporate services to the department
- senior officers, senior executive service officers, miscellaneous workers and trainees account for less than 0.5% of total FTE staff
- permanent staff retention rate of 95.3%
- annual permanent separation rate of 4.7%.
During the 2019–20 financial year, 4 employees received a redundancy package at a cost of $533,772.40. No retrenchment or early retirement packages were paid during the period.
Workforce by type of employment
| Permanent employees | 80.8% |
| Temporary employees | 15.9% |
| Casual or contract employees | 3.3% |
The department’s staff numbers are based on Quarter 2, 2020 Minimum Obligatory Human Resource Information point-in-time data.
Main occupational groups
| Teachers | 63.5% |
| Teacher aides | 14.5% |
| Public servants | 13.3% |
| Cleaners | 6.4% |
| Schools officers | 1.8% |
| Other | 0.5% |
In 2019–20, we supported our staff to make a difference through the following initiatives:
- We All Belong inclusion and diversity framework—outlines the department's approach to inclusion and diversity—to grow together as an organisation, valuing and embracing the different skills, knowledge and experiences each of our staff brings to work
- Proud at Work—the department aims to provide workplaces where all employees feel safe, valued and supported to bring their whole selves to work
- Able. Valuing talent in all abilities—the department has a vision to ensure people of all abilities can participate fully in all aspects and pathways of employment
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce strategy—in Reconciliation Week 2020, the Director-General launched the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce strategy (PDF, 736KB)
- Pathways to Parity workforce strategy—aims to provide workplaces where women and men—all employees—have the same rights, access and opportunities to employment and career pathways. The strategy was launched by the Director-General in March 2020
- Flexible by design—In 2019–20, a range of new tools were developed including the online flexible arrangements form, Flexible by Design toolkit, supporting capability videos, conversation guides, webinars and an online community for managers
- Capability development—In 2019–20, this has been demonstrated through growing registrations in new programs:
- 896 registrations in the Highly Accomplished Teacher/Lead Teacher Certification Process for applicants which is mandatory for teachers seeking to submit an application
- 937 registrations in the new Senior Subject Professional Development program
- 430 registrations in the Teaching Junior Secondary program
- 129 registrations in the Restart Teaching program
- 81 registrations in the Languages Upskilling program
- 238 registrations in the Mentoring program
- 1,320 School Cleaners expressed interest in the Certificate III in Cleaning Operations
- 117 Teacher Aides commenced the Certificate III in Education Support—Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
- preparatory work was undertaken to support diploma qualifications for science operations officers and an RPL process for community education counsellors.
- New online resources—a new online resource is helping to provide schools, regions and central office staff with up-to-date information about strategic workforce planning trends
- Take the Lead program—up to 25 aspiring leaders complete each program through one of three strands depending on their current experience and future aspirations
- Teaching Junior Secondary—the final core content for the Teaching Junior Secondary program, which comprises 6 learning modules and 6 assessments was released in January 2020
- Principal health and wellbeing strategy—launched as an integrated and system wide approach that addresses the unique and emerging challenges that principals face.
Domestic and family violence prevention
We continue to build on the work of embedding cultural change into understanding, recognition and support for employees affected by domestic and family violence. This is achieved through campaigns to raise awareness and the promotion of resources to support employees.
COVID-19 response
The department worked closely with Queensland Health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with risk mitigation measures undertaken by the department reflecting our focus on ensuring that student and staff safety is our first priority.
A comprehensive suite of online resources were developed to support the health and wellbeing of staff during COVID-19. The Looking after yourself during COVID-19 series provided tips and strategies through online information, fact sheets, podcasts and webinars. Topics included self-care, staying connected, maintaining balance while working from home, managing relationships, and mental health and wellbeing. The Looking after yourself series supports the department's Staff Wellbeing Framework.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management System
The department’s commitment to health, safety and wellbeing (HSW) and the continual improvement of HSW performance was supported through a review and redevelopment of our HSW Management System, concluded in June 2020.
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994
The department is committed to transparency and accountability, and all departmental employees are required to comply with the public sector ethics principles set out in the
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994. This is achieved through department-wide implementation of the
Code of Conduct for the Queensland Public Service and the department’s
Standard of Practice, which gives effect to the Code in the department’s unique environment.
Employees undertake mandatory public sector ethics education and training upon commencement of their employment with the department, and at intervals of no more than 12 months thereafter. In 2019–2020, 80,229 staff (87.7%) completed the Mandatory All Staff Training program (MAST) designed to improve the quality, consistency and effectiveness of compliance training for employees.
Key achievements in 2019–20 include:
- hosting the annual International Fraud Awareness Week forum in November 2019, and live streaming it statewide to enable maximum employee access
- commencing a full policy analysis and review of the department's suite of integrity-related policies, procedures and supporting documents, with a focus on conflict of interest, and preventing and reporting corruption and misconduct
- continuing to work with universities to deliver ethics training to pre-service teachers
- continuing to drive proactive fraud and corruption control measures through the department's Fraud and Corruption Control Committee.