The stated aims of the PSA are to provide support for public and not-for-profit community services, support worker voices and participation though unions, ensure workplaces are free from discrimination, and advance the Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles of partnership, protection and participation, as they relate to the working lives of the union's members.

An overcrowded Wellington department was described by the PSA as "a compromise between a hot-house and a tin shed erected by amateur carpenters".

[citation needed] With a change of government in 1936, a five-day working week for public servants was introduced.

In 1979, in response to a notice of strike action by electricity workers, the government introduced the Public Service Association Withdrawal of Recognition Bill.

In the face of mass protests and a PSA offer to submit the dispute to mediation, the government backed down and withdrew the bill.

[citation needed] In the early 1990s, the Employment Contracts Act removed unions as legal entities, with restricted rights.

[7]: Part 8 The board includes the president and leaders of Te Rūnanga o Ngā Toa Āwhina, Pasefika Network and PSA Youth.