“Urgh, the public sector…”
“Urgh, the public sector…”
It’s a familiar descriptive term.
“They have no idea.”
“If only they ran more like a business.”
“They don’t know what real work is.”
Every workplace, public or private, has its share of brilliance and its share of flaws. We’ve all been let down by a private company, just as we’ve been frustrated with the public sector.
Yet, consider this:
Every single day, a police officer is assaulted, abused, and confronted with both the darkest and brightest sides of humanity, yet still, they put the uniform back on tomorrow.
Daily, doctors, paramedics and nurses work impossible hours, take abuse from those in pain, face unimaginable tragedy, and still, they save lives.
Firefighters, both paid and volunteer, walk towards the danger we all seek to avoid, whenever the call may come.
Allied health professionals quietly go the extra step to comfort the most vulnerable, even when no one is watching.
Local government crews show up, no matter the hour, to clean, repair, and restore order because someone has to.
Behind the scenes, public servants stay late, poring over policies and trying to create the fairest outcomes, work that is often dismissed as ‘red tape.’
Council enforcement officers are berated for doing the very jobs the public insists must be done.
Teachers endure increasing abuse from students and parents, yet they still walk into classrooms each day with hope, shaping the leaders of tomorrow.
The Armed/Defence Forces personnel who are willing to give their lives to defend the freedoms we all take for granted.
In remote towns, councils step in to run shops, post offices, even petrol stations, not for a personal profit, but because no one else will.
Finance teams work late into the night, wrestling with budgets, driven by the knowledge that every cent is public money.
Many public servants, after working all day, volunteer in their communities at night, in charities.
The list goes on and on........
Yes, waste exists. Mistakes happen. But that’s true everywhere, in private companies, public agencies, and every human endeavour.
The public sector isn’t some distant, faceless entity. It is comprised of ordinary people who take on extraordinary responsibilities. People who step into challenging roles, not for accolades or profit, but because they are driven to create public value over shareholder value.
Next time you find yourself criticising “the public sector,” pause for a moment. Behind every decision, every policy, every frontline service is a person doing their best, often with fewer resources, higher stakes, and greater scrutiny than most of us will ever face.
Ultimately, the public sector is not an abstract concept. It’s our neighbours, our friends, our communities showing up, quietly, every day.
The public sector should not be beyond reproach, but we should be grateful for it. Without dedicated public sector professionals, we would be in a much worse position.