The agencies of the Government of Victoria in Australia are collectively described as the Victorian public sector. By convention, and similarly to other jurisdictions with Westminster systems of government, the public sector is organised into the public service and public entities. The public sector is also collectively known as the machinery of government. In Victoria, the public sector is defined by the Public Administration Act 2004.
The Victorian public service is composed of ten departments, the head of each being a secretary. Each department can consist of a number of portfolios, each of which is the direct responsibility of a minister, who collectively form the ministry. A number of other bodies perform specific roles within the public service. For example, the Victorian Public Sector Commission oversees and reports on the public sector as a whole; Administrative Offices established in relation to departments and undertake clearly defined tasks while reporting directly to the secretary and the responsible Minister; and various other bodies which are described in legislation as public service employers.
Public entities are formed in various ways: they may be statutory authorities, formed by legislative instruments which define their role and purpose; state-owned enterprises with a commercial purpose; or other advisory bodies performing a public function. Public entities are granted varying degrees of autonomy but are ultimately responsible to the relevant minister. For that purpose, each is assigned to the portfolio of the department supporting the minister. Departments, therefore, are responsible for both the public service bodies and public entities which fall within their purview.
Transfers of responsibility between public sector bodies, and the creation or abolition of these bodies, are known as machinery of government changes. The Public Administration Act provides the mechanisms by which such changes are made.
The over 1,500 councils of schools in the state school system are considered individual public entities responsible to the department. Similarly, permanent and casual relief teachers in state schools are employed by the Teaching Service, which although a component of the department is not a public service employer.
All public hospitals in Victoria are operated by boards responsible to the Department of Health. For a list of hospitals, see List of hospitals in Australia § Victoria
A small number of agencies are constitutionally or statutorily independent of the government and are directly responsible to the Parliament of Victoria and its officers.
