Te taunaki e anga whakamua ai te Ratonga Tūmatanui Te Taunaki Public Service Census

25 October 2024

The Public Service Census is a survey of public servants in New Zealand conducted by Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission. 

What is the Public Service Census?

The first Public Service Census, Te Taunaki, ran in 2021, addressing information gaps and strengthening the Commission’s oversight role, by surveying all staff of departments and departmental agencies. Te Taunaki provided information about Public Service employee experiences, motivations, and demographic information. The next survey, scheduled for March 2025, will cover a broader range of topics reflecting the Commission’s intent to drive performance through robust data collected across the Public Service.

Why we survey the Public Service

It’s important that we have robust data to drive improvement across the public service. We use Te Taunaki to inform work across the system and within agencies. This supports the Commission’s core work such as:

·         chief executive, agency and system performance management (e.g., assessing whether an agency has the capability and culture it needs to be an effective system leader and steward, providing comparable data to inform Performance Improvement Reviews)

·         workforce policies and interventions, and

·         the guidance and support we provide on integrity matters (including supporting agency specific work through our network of Integrity Champions)

The Commission’s role in collecting and publishing information ensures that the public has information readily accessible about the performance of agencies.

In running Te Taunaki, we are following the model used in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada who regularly survey their public service workforces. This is more cost effective than individual agencies running their own surveys due to economies of scale and the ability to benchmark by using a consistent set of questions for all agencies.

What is new for the 2025 Te Taunaki?

In addition to the topics included in the 2021 survey, new questions have been added on factors that enable public servants to be productive (having clear work objectives and manager support to achieve them, barriers to completing objectives, perceived team productivity, impact of flexible work on productivity, clarity of agency priorities, management of poor performance, team collaboration, workload, engagement).

Questions also focus on delivery of better public services (innovation, interagency collaboration, learning and development), good employer requirements (job stress, bullying, racial and sexual harassment, discrimination), and integrity and conduct (transparency, political neutrality, free and frank advice).

There’s an option for agencies to add in bespoke questions for their staff at their own expense. This is more efficient than agencies running additional staff surveys.

Crown Agents are invited to participate at their own expense. The Public Service Commission funds participation for all staff of departments and departmental agencies.

Results from the 2021 Te Taunaki

Results from the 2021 survey are online. Topics can be viewed for the Public Service overall, or for a single organisation.

Working in the Public Service

Diversity and inclusion

Māori Crown relationship

Deep dive reports 

To explore the data in more detail, use our interactive data drilldown.

Participants

The final response rate for the 2021 Te Taunaki was 63.1%, representing the views and experiences of about 40,000 public servants. This comprised 60.5% (around 38,340) public servants completing the survey, and a further 2.6% (1,640) completing at least the demographic questions. Measuring the diversity of the Public Service is a key priority so it is important to include these partial responses in our analysis and reporting.

Privacy

What happens to the information participants provide

Participants’ privacy is paramount. Responses are grouped and included in summary reporting at the agency and system level. Individuals are not identified in any reporting.

How we keep information secure

The information was collected securely by Research New Zealand, whose Security Policy and Practices meet the requirements set out in the New Zealand Information Security Manual.

New Zealand Information Security Manual — Government Communications Security   

We securely store an anonymised version of the data in our internal system.

Methodology

For information on the methodology of the 2021 survey, including development, testing, participation rates, and margin of error, read the Technical Report prepared by our research provider, Research New Zealand.

Technical Report — Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021 

Read the 2021 questionnaire

Questionnaire — Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021 

The 2025 questionnaire is being finalised.

Using the dataset in your research

We invite applications from bona fide researchers to use anonymised information from the Te Taunaki dataset on site at Te Kawa Mataaho. Iwi affiliation is part of the dataset, and we can assist iwi to access information about public servants from their community.

For more information about research using the Te Taunaki dataset, contact census@publicservice.govt.nz

Te Taunaki meaning

Our te reo Māori name for the Public Service Census is: Te taunaki e anga whakamua ai te Ratonga Tūmatanui (Te Taunaki | the evidence). This means ‘the evidence that moves the Public Service forward’.

Ngā mihi whakawhetai ki Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori. Our grateful thanks to Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori the Māori Language Commission for providing a te reo Māori name that encompasses the spirit of the census.

Contact us

If you have questions about Te Taunaki, contact us at census@publicservice.govt.nz.