The federal government’s overuse of consulting and contractors is highly concentrated with more than 75 per cent of its $21 billion annual external labour workforce centred on the Defence portfolio, an outsourcing audit shows.

The Department of Finance audit of financial year 2021 activities found 75 per cent of Defence’s outsourced spending – the equivalent of 26,199 workers – was not on consulting and contractors, but rather on third party service providers such as garrison security, cooking and base cleaning.