2023 People Matter Survey

The 2023 People Matter Survey was held from 19 May to 9 June 2023. The response rate was 39%.

Thank you to all those employees who took the time to complete the survey.

Impact of 2021 response plan actions

A summary has been provided to show the impact of completed response plan actions from 2021. There are several areas of improvement in the 2023 People Matter Survey results, linked to the 2021 response plan actions.

A notable improvement (by 12%) in this year’s whole of sector results was the percentage of employees agreeing with the statement ‘bullying and sexual harassment is not tolerated in my organisation’. There was also a 3% decrease in the number of employee who reported experiencing bullying.

This can be directly linked to actions taken under the 2021 whole of sector response plan to address the issue of inappropriate behaviours in the workplace such as:

• release of a modernised NTPS Code of Conduct
• new Policy for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
• delivery of training in appropriate workplace behaviours
• promotion of workplace inclusion.

Read the Northern Territory Public Sector results impact summary PDF (479.2 KB).

The whole of sector benchmark report

A highlight of the report was that at the whole of sector level, the NTPS Employee Engagement (64%) and Job Satisfaction (69%) rates remain comparatively stable with the 2021 results.

Although there was a minor 1% decrease for each, it is a remarkable accomplishment given the major challenges affecting the community and the NTPS between survey years such as COVID-19, floods and other emergencies.

Importantly, it demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of our NTPS employees, and leadership contributions across the NTPS and within agencies to address the issues arising from the 2021 survey.

Read the whole of the Northern Territory Public Sector report PDF (841.6 KB).

Whole of sector response plan

Following the release of the whole of sector survey results, a draft whole of sector response plan was published for employee comment and feedback.

Over 110 employees provided feedback on the defined actions in the proposed response plan and updates were made.

This response plan is to address the survey from a whole of sector perspective and does not address agency specific data. Agencies are required to develop their own response plans tailored to their agency results and CEOs will be held accountable for providing updates and delivering on the proposed actions.

There are still actions to be finalised for the appropriate workplace behaviour focus area from the last survey. While this has not been listed as a specific area in the 2023 response plan, this area of work will be an ongoing focus area for the sector.

OCPE have recently launched the Mentally Healthy Workplace Toolkit which is aligned to the framework launched in 2021. New indices have been developed in the benchmark reports that are grouped as workplace factors relating to common psychosocial hazards and potential risks in the workplace. These can be used in conjunction with other resources to address this area as a focus for agencies.

Read the whole of the Northern Territory Public Sector final response plan PDF (628.5 KB).