A new sector-wide survey of Australian public sector communications professionals has found councils are leading the way on measurement confidence and AI optimism, well ahead of state-level health, education, and community services sectors.
The State of Public Sector Communications 2026, released by Melbourne animation and video production studio, Punchy Studio, drew on responses from hundreds of communicators across Federal, State, Local Government, health, education, and community services.
Local Government scored 5.23 out of 7 on measurement confidence – the highest of any sector surveyed. Education followed at 5.00, Health at 4.06, and Community Services at 2.50. The industry average sits at 4.75.
“The gap between Local Government and other sectors isn’t necessarily a skills issue, it’s an infrastructure advantage,” says Founder and Managing Director of Punchy Studio, Anthony Lam.
“Councils typically have unified digital platforms for rates, registrations, and inquiries that give them clear data other sectors don’t have access to.”
On AI, 75% of Local Government communicators expect the technology to significantly reduce manual workload, the most optimistic outlook of any sector. By comparison, Health views AI primarily as a quality and speed enhancer (65%), while Education and Community Services hold the highest levels of uncertainty.
Across all sectors, video content was rated the most effective communication channel at 5.49 out of 7, ahead of email newsletters (5.37), community events (5.09), and social media (4.95). However, 70% of respondents cite budget as the primary barrier to producing more video, with 55% citing time and 42.5% pointing to limited internal expertise.
Other findings include the emergence of misinformation as a top-five communication priority for the first time, and a 40% prioritisation of behaviour change as a primary communication goal, reflecting a shift from broadcasting to behaviour design across the sector.
The full report is available at: https://www.punchystudio.com.au/blog/the-state-of-public-sector-communications-2026/.
