Public servants’ silence could hurt transport agency

October 27, 2025 — 5.00am

After years of corruption scandals, jobs for party hacks and official investigations into Transport for NSW, public servants are so shell-shocked that more than half of them are reluctant to speak out, strongly suggesting something of a debilitating culture of fear permeates the beleaguered department.

The Circular Quay ferry wharves were largely built in the 1940s.Credit: Sam Mooy

The public servants’ growing tendency to keep mum is part of a report by the Herald’s Matt O’Sullivan on a survey of 17,500 employees that also found nearly three-quarters of the workforce believed change within the organisation was not being managed well; only 24 per cent of staff agreed with management, a six percentage point drop on a previous poll. And burnout was endemic too: more than 60 per cent were suffering, down five percentage points.

The survey has been published as the transport department is slashing about 950 white-collar jobs as part of cost-cutting forecast to strip $600 million from the agency this financial year. These redundancies are in addition to the cutting of 300 senior executive roles.

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The Independent Commission Against Corruption is 10 weeks through an expected three months of public hearings into allegations of a kickback scheme involving several Transport for NSW officials and nine road contracting companies. The kickbacks inquiry is the fourth into corruption in procurement processes at Transport for NSW since 2019.

As the ICAC inquiry this time investigates allegations that agency officials pocketed money from road contractors, the latest survey reveals that only 52 per cent of Transport for NSW staff feel “empowered to speak up about tough issues”, a concerning response given such silence could cover alleged corruption, malpractice or workplace matters in a huge department that devours almost half the state’s investment budget each year.

Transport for NSW’s spending on projects easily dwarfs other government departments, partly due to mega-projects such as Sydney’s new metro rail lines and motorways, including the Western Harbour Tunnel and the M6 in the city’s south. The transport agency’s capital spending this financial year alone is forecast to hit $14.4 billion.

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said the survey was a “tougher report card than we’d hoped” but it reflected the fact that the agency was finalising long-standing reforms that affected people’s jobs and responsibilities. “That’s meant a sustained period of complex change at Transport and tough decisions have been made,” he said.

Yet, the survey shows the very people closest to knowing Transport for NSW’s problems are not on board: only 60 per cent were proud to tell others they worked for the agency, down 8 percentage points, while the number of staff confident that action would be taken had fallen 13 percentage points to 30 per cent.

The historical origins of our transport infrastructure issues, disruptions and procurement problems have raised questions about the judgment and management of the agency and governments.

In its third year, the Minns government’s attempt to wrangle Transport for NSW into shape makes the evaluation problematic, but the survey indicates some of the workforce feel that they have been thrown under a bus.

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