More than 1000 public servant jobs in Victoria as the state governments tries to rein in its ballooning wage bill and debt.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes on Thursday released a long-awaited independent review of Victoria’s public service, led by banking executive Helen Silver.

The state government has agreed to more than $4 billion in cuts – less than the $5 billion in recommended savings – with the total headcount expected to fall by more than 1000 full-time equivalent workers.

Measures include reducing 332 executive and similar roles, slashing spending on consultants and labour hire, cutting CBD office costs, and merging or winding up entities.

Frontline roles such as teachers, nurses, police and child protection workers were not within the review’s scope.

It found Victoria’s public service workforce has grown 16 per cent since 2019. Executive roles are up 52 per cent.

The moves will end unnecessary duplication and rebalance the state’s “top-heavy” public service.

“Families are watching every dollar they spend, and they expect the government to do the same,” Allan said.

“It’s why we’re reducing waste and inefficiencies so we can invest in the things that matter to Victorians.”

Higher-level public service staff, known as VPS5 and VPS6, will be capped at 15 per cent, saving $125 million over four years.

“We have a situation where we have too many executives, too many in the top of the range and not enough entry-level and graduate positions,” Symes said.

When announcing the review in February, Symes said it would aim at job losses between 2000 and 3000 — about five to six per cent of the public service workforce.

The treasurer said she was “absolutely conscious” news of the looming job cuts was landing 20 days before Christmas but insisted it wasn’t a termination notification.

“Many of these positions will be removed and altered, and changed by attrition,” Symes said.

“That is what has been baked into the $4 billion in savings. We would lose a lot of those savings if we were to pay out redundancies tomorrow.”

Victoria’s Community and Public Sector Union claimed victory over the smaller job cut number and suggested most of the pain was behind the 55,000-strong workforce.

“Six hundred and nineteen of the 1055 jobs to go have already been implemented,” the union’s Victorian branch assistant secretary Mitch Vandewerdt-Holman said.

“We’ve been fighting every single one of those cuts. We will continue to fight to save as many jobs as possible.”

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson described the review as a “$4 billion admission of failure”.

“These supposed savings are a drop in the ocean,” the Liberal leader and shadow treasurer said.

“Since this report was handed to Labor in June, Victoria’s net debt has grown by almost twice the claimed savings Labor’s cuts will deliver.”

The Victorian government will introduce legislation on Thursday to enact the review’s recommendations.

Twenty-seven were accepted in full, three in part and 15 in principle.

Seven were not accepted, including ending certain school programs and abolishing government entities such as the Geelong Authority.

Victoria’s more than 500 public entities and 3400 boards and committees were costly and “unwieldy”, the review said.

Silver called for entities to be reduced by 78 and up to 90 advisory bodies to cease.

The government’s response falls short of the mark, committing only to cut 29 public entities and boards.

Symes’ predecessor Tim Pallas sought to cut 3000-4000 public service jobs in the 2023/24 Victorian budget.

Instead, employee numbers grew from 54,760 to 54,839 over the financial year and the total wage bill was forecast to rise from $38 billion in 2024/25 and $42.4 billion in 2028/29.

Victoria’s net debt is forecast to reach $194 billion by mid-2029, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.

-AAP