bear in mind that its all about meritocracy. i wouldnt say penalise but gotta be realistic in your expectations. if you did read enough, some people on this forum stated they had to take a 1K pay cut when they switched from pte to public.

but i suggest you think carefully abt joining public sector as the skills arent that transferrable to pte sector if you ever decide to leave public for the pte sector in future.