Excess public sector workforce costs South Australia $9.5m a year

South Australian taxpayers are bankrolling nearly 100 excess public servants while the state hires 23,716 new employees.

South Australian taxpayers are paying nearly 100 public servants with no permanent job an estimated $9.5m a year, despite the government’s claims of workforce efficiency.

The State of the Sector report revealed 97 “excess” staff remained on the public payroll with no substantive roles as of June 30, down from 118 last year.

Eighty-five employees had been surplus to requirements for more than nine months, costing a minimum $7.2m based on the average public sector salary of $98,072.

The Infrastructure and Transport Department was responsible for 77 excess staff, costing the taxpayer $7.5m, down from 100 excess employees as of June last year.

The previous privatisation of the train and tram network was attributed to the high number of excess public servants. Picture: Emma Brasier

A department spokesman said the workforce bulge was due to the previous privatisation of train and tram services and they worked hard to find them “suitable opportunities”.

In February, the government took Adelaide’s train operations back under public control after being ran by private operator Keolis Downer and, in September, also took control of trams.

The spokesman said excess workers were given training and temporary placements in areas such as surveillance, health and safety and administration while permanent positions were sought.

“This includes ensuring they are provided with priority consideration for all suitable vacancies across the South Australian public sector,” he said.

Liberal MP Ben Hood, the Opposition’s Public Sector Shadow Minister, said it was “outrageous” that during a cost-of-living crisis Labor was still paying public servants to take a “free ride” on taxpayers.

“Labor’s public transport takeover has seen complaints skyrocket by 87 per cent,” he said.

“Under Labor, you’re not only likely to be late for work, but you’ll foot the $9.5 million a year bill for nearly 100 public servants to sit around.”

Minister for Infrastructure our and Transport, Emily Bourke, The Infrastructure and Transport Department was responsible for 77 excess staff, costing the taxpayer $7.5m. Picture: Emma Brasier

“Along with cutting waste like Labor’s nearly $200 million on self-congratulatory ads, we will make sure that the public service has the people it needs to improve service levels, not sit idle.”

The surplus staff bill comes as the public service headcount swelled by 4783 to 122,644 employees, with recruitment jumping 11 per cent to 23,716 new hires in 2024-25.

The report, by Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri, attributed the jump in hiring activity to workforce expansion and staff turnover.

The sector’s integrity units also faced an increased workload in 2024-25 undertaking 808 investigations, an increase of 64 cases on the previous year.

The majority of investigations (429) related to professional and courteous behaviour and led to 103 staff either being fired or resigning after a breach was found to have occurred.

Originally published as Excess public sector workforce costs South Australia $9.5m a year