Building a high-powered specialist network and bringing know-how that has been outsourced to consultants back to government agencies are top priorities for the first federal chief consulting officer, Andrew Nipe.

A former McKinsey and Bain consultant, Mr Nipe will lead the new $11 million Australian Government Consulting unit. Located in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the consulting office is a centrepiece of Labor’s strategy to reduce over-reliance on external consultants and cut spending on external services by $3 billion.