‘Acting’ and ‘storytelling’ lessons on chopping block over $750,000 spend

More than $750,000 worth of contracts have been signed to deliver ‘acting’ and ‘storytelling’ lessons to bureaucrats in Anthony Albanese’s first term of government.

The Coalition has signalled it will clamp down on the historically high amount of taxpayer cash thrown at teaching government boffins “acting” and “storytelling” lessons, after new analysis showed more than $750,000 has been spent on dramatic arts training in the past three years.

Government agencies, ranging from the banks watchdog to the secretive Signals Directorate, paid for $777,377.91 in contracts with the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) under the Albanese government’s first term.

Coalition spokesman for government waste James Stevens signalled the high amount of spending on “frivolous” training would be slashed as part of his party’s platform on reining in government spending, which also includes cutting from 36,000 public servants hired during Anthony Albanese’s tenure.

“Spending more than $750,000 for bureaucrats to receive ‘acting’ and ‘storytelling’ training is completely out of step with the public’s expectation that their tax dollars are spent responsibly,” Mr Stevens said.

“This is the latest in a series of examples of the public service wasting funds on frivolous expenditure. Australians are doing it tough in this cost-of-living crisis and would be shocked to see their taxpayer funds being spent in this way.”

Opposition spokesman on government waste James Stevens. Picture: David Mariuz

The highest value contract for the last term was for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the banks regulator, which spent $172,854 on a two-year contract ending later this year.

An APRA spokesman said NIDA’s training helped “staff and new graduates enhance their communication skills and perform their duties more effectively”.

He said APRA staff regularly attended conferences and events where they delivered speeches and presentations, and took part in panel discussions.

“These occasions are crucial for communicating industry developments to stakeholders and the media,” he said.

APRA’s spending with NIDA made headlines in 2019 when it was revealed the agency had spent $430,000 on contracts for presentation skills training.

The Australian Signals Directorate also spent more than $23,000 on contracts in 2024, while the Future Fund Management Agency – which helms the country’s sovereign wealth fund – spent more than $200,000 on contracts in the past three years.  

The National Institute of Dramatic Art at Kensington in Sydney. Picture: Supplied

It continued a long list of various government agencies contracting NIDA for similar training, with almost $2 million spent with the dramatic arts institution from 2014 to 2022.

The spending on contracts by NIDA was recently highlighted by Liberal Senator Claire Chandler in Senate estimates, when it was revealed almost $26,000 was splashed on presentation lessons from NIDA for just 13 Services Australia bureaucrats over two days.

The signal of a clampdown on the contracts comes as cutting down on government ‘waste’ emerges as a major part of the Coalition’s election campaign.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton earlier this week announced he would end widespread working from home for government employees as part of his targeting of the public service.

NIDA was contacted for comment.