Our Plan for an Efficient and Effective Public Service

The Coalition values the important work of the public service in supporting all Australians.

Australians rightly expect their national government to maintain a world-class, efficient public service.

Every dollar that the Commonwealth spends comes out of the pockets of everyday hard working Australians. All Australians expect their taxes to be spent prudently, responsibly, and fairly.

Under a Dutton Coalition Government, the Australian Public Service (APS) will be efficient and effective, focused on delivering the essential services Australians expect and rely on.

We believe governments and the public service should be focused on outcomes, not activity, and have a culture of efficiency and value for money.

In under three years, Labor has grown the size of the public service by more than 41,000 positions – an increase of more than 20 per cent.

Public sector numbers were increased during the COVID-19 pandemic by the former Coalition Government, to provide Australians with the services that they needed during that once-in-a-hundred-years crisis. Now, despite the pandemic ending, Labor’s significant and reckless expansion has brought the size of the public service to an unsustainable level.

For every public service job that is created, Australians have to work harder to pay for it.

The fact is that a bigger, more expensive public service does not mean better public services. Australians do not feel better served by the Albanese Labor Government than they were three years ago.

While Labor has put on thousands of new public servants, wait times for applying for key payments and other services have extended.

The government is a trustee of Australian taxpayer dollars, and value for money must be at the forefront of decision-makers’ thinking, including those in the public service. The Coalition will restore respect for taxpayer dollars in the public service.

The decisions the government makes impact Australians living and working across Australia, not just in Canberra. Under the Coalition, the public service will reflect the views and values of Australians, with all their varied backgrounds and experiences, to ensure the best decisions are made.

It is critical that the public service has an understanding of and appreciation for the role of the private sector, so that its advice can be geared towards growing our economy and unleashing Australia’s economic potential.

The Coalition will encourage engagement between the private sector and public service, with robust conflict of interest oversights and probity protections. This will allow us to tap into the talent in Australia’s private sector, and scale our public service capability up. At the same time, it will improve the private sector’s understanding of government; this will enhance collaboration to solve the challenges Australia faces.

The Coalition will consider a wide variety of perspectives, including those beyond the public service, when making decisions, because we know that the experience and insights of government, business and industry each bring invaluable contributions when designing and implementing policy.

We understand and support the role that flexible work arrangements play in getting the best out of our Commonwealth public servants working right around the country. The Coalition respects existing flexible work arrangements and will enshrine them in future agreements. If elected, a Coalition Government will not change current flexible work arrangements, including work from home policies.

A Dutton Coalition Government will:

• Guarantee the delivery of the high quality essential services that Australians rely on, while ensuring that the cost and size of the public service reflects the most efficient and effective delivery approach possible.
• End Labor’s wasteful spending in the public service, and restore a sense of respect for taxpayers’ money.
• Sensibly reduce the APS (excluding military and reserves) by 41,000 over five years, bringing it back to a sustainable level, while protecting frontline services delivery and national security positions. This will be done methodically, through a hiring freeze and natural attrition.
• Strengthen our public service by encouraging our public servants to gain experience and understanding of the private sector.
• Support flexible working arrangements for the public service, including working from home, by respecting existing flexible working arrangements, and enshrining them in future agreements. A Coalition Government will not change current flexible working arrangements, including work from home policies. There will be no mandated minimum number of days for public servants to work in the office.
• Ensure the public service is resourced to deliver on its core functions, and utilise external advice only to access required skills and expertise temporarily or on a project basis, and where the private sector is the most cost-effective place to access that capability or expertise.

Our Plan

Focusing on delivering for Australians

Under Labor, Australians have experienced a cost of living crisis and a cost of doing business crisis. At the same time, we face the most precarious and dangerous strategic environment since the Second World War.

The Coalition will ensure the public service is efficient and effective, focused on delivering the services that Australians expect and rely on, and ready to meet the challenges that face us.   

We will guarantee frontline delivery roles across the public service, and ensure that Australians receive the quality essential services that they rely on.

We will ensure that all government departments and agencies are appropriately resourced to deliver the services Australians expect of them.

The Coalition will also end the politicisation of the APS. Under Labor, Jim Chalmers admitted that he had directed the Treasury to cost Coalition policies, seeking to politicise taxpayer-funded public servants.

We will protect the honesty and integrity of the public service, so it can be a source of impartial, frank and fearless advice in accordance with the APS Code of Conduct.

To deliver for all Australians, we must get the best out of our public service.

That is why the Coalition respects existing flexible work arrangements and commits to enshrining them in future public service agreements. A Coalition Government will not change current flexible work arrangements, including work from home policies.

We will also continue to support the private sector making its own decisions on flexible work arrangements. Under the Coalition, flexible work is protected. There will be no mandated minimum number of days for public servants to work in the office.

Stopping public service waste

The Coalition understands that the government does not spend its own money – it’s Australian taxpayers’ money.

Under the former Coalition Government, the departmental funding provided to administer government services declined as an overall share of total government expenses, allowing a greater portion of funding to go to delivering programs.

We also know that Australians expect that their hard earned tax dollars are spent wisely, to provide the services and infrastructure that will make a difference to their daily lives.

However, the Albanese Labor Government has shown that it has no regard for how taxpayer money is spent. We have seen too many examples of waste under Labor.

These include:

• $870,000 for five pieces of art for just one overseas embassy.
• $620,000 for a contracted speechwriter for Bill Shorten for two years, in addition to his taxpayer-funded ministerial advisers and other departmental communications staff.
• $450,000 for ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies for just 21 government departments in two years, including $41,801 for Anthony Albanese’s own department. 
• $56,700 for bespoke office furniture for one departmental deputy secretary, including a nearly $20,000 desk and $8,680 for a table.
• $45,000 for a musical composition to celebrate opening a new embassy, in addition to a $26,000 party.

The Coalition will end Labor’s wasteful spending, and ensure that respect for taxpayer dollars is at the centre of public service decision-making.

Returning the public service to a sustainable level

The Coalition supports an efficient and effective public service that is focused on delivering for Australians.

Under Labor, the size of the public service has grown to an unsustainable level. Labor has added more than 41,000 new public servant positions – a more than 20 per cent increase in just three years. That is more than three times the entire expansion of the public service under the wasteful Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments in their entire six years.

On top of this, Labor has agreed to an 11 per cent pay rise for all public servants – but has not accounted for this in its budget bottom line. The Albanese Government’s failure to manage the size and cost of the public service has burdened the budget and undermined its critical role in the lives of Australians. For every new job, an Australian taxpayer must pay more of their taxes towards public servants’ wages, instead of social services supports, Medicare, aged care or new roads and rail.

The Coalition will sensibly reduce the size of the public service by 41,000 positions in a managed way, returning it to the size it was under the former Coalition Government, while protecting frontline service delivery roles.

We will achieve reductions by focusing on Canberra roles that are not front line and have been added since Labor came to Government. This process will be implemented sensibly over five years, using a hiring freeze and natural attrition. There will be no forced redundancies under the Coalition’s plan. 

The Choice

Australians are entitled to expect an efficient, effective public service that is focused on delivering outcomes and meeting their needs. That is what a Dutton Coalition Government will deliver.

The Coalition’s approach is clear: we will streamline the public service, ensuring that it remains responsive to the needs of Australians while eliminating wasteful spending.

The Coalition will deliver a focused public service that is aligned with the values of Australians and respectful of taxpayers money.

Our plan is to reduce the size of the public service sensibly, cutting unnecessary roles that do not directly contribute to frontline service delivery or our national security, while protecting essential positions.

We will continue to support the role that flexible work arrangements, including working from home, play in getting the best out of our public service. The Coalition respects existing flexible work arrangements, and commits to enshrining them in future agreements. A Coalition Government will not change current flexible work arrangements including work from home policies.

We will also encourage greater engagement between the private and public sectors, because the expertise and insights from Australia’s private sector will help us improve public service delivery and advice.

Under Labor, the public service has expanded dramatically, but Australians are no better serviced.

We have seen example after example of wasteful Labor spending and recklessness with taxpayer money. This has to stop.  

Only a Dutton Government will deliver an efficient, effective and sustainable public service, focused on providing the essential services Australians expect and rely on.