The Mandarin’s 2026 readers’ survey finds Australia’s public servants continue to take pride in their work and impact, but stress levels are climbing.
The nationwide ‘Frank & Fearless’ survey has shown a spike in stress levels across the public service — more than doubling since 2024.
Two years ago, the same survey saw 21% of public servants describe their stress levels as ‘high’ or ‘very high’.
By 2025, the number had jumped to 26%, and today that number is 46%.
High-level analysis of The Mandarin’s survey data, drawn from the responses of more than 850 public servants, points to a number of reasons why stress levels have peaked.