Coalition to rely on ‘strong job market’ to cull the public service by 30,000 people
The Albanese government has revealed the size of the public service sector will expand by another 4200 roles, but the Coalition has vowed to slash positions.
Federal Budget
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Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor appears to have distanced himself from the idea of cutting 30,000 public servant positions, saying a potential Coalition government would rely on “natural attrition” and a strong job market to reduce the headcount.
Labor announced an expansion of the public service when the federal budget was handed down on Tuesday, with an estimated 213,349 public servants next financial year, up from 209,150 at the time of the 2024-25 budget.
Speaking on the ABCs Radio National on Wednesday, Mr Taylor said the Coalition would bank on high attrition rates to cut the public service back to its pre-Labor size.
“We have amazing people in our public service – truly tremendous people,” he said.
“There’s a natural attrition rate now in the public service, which is high because it’s big, and so we can rely on that primarily.
“We’ll say more about that over the coming weeks. But the point I’m making is we want a public service that delivers for Australians, where people are excited and empowered to work, where bureaucracy doesn’t control everything, where people can get on with their jobs. And that doesn’t need to be a bigger public service.”
In budget papers, Labor said the size of the public service will expand by another 4200 as Labor delivers “new and expanded government services, policy and regulatory responses.”
Most of the new roles for 2025-26 would actually be conversions from external labour to public service positions. Many of these are in the Department of Social Services. Overall, the DSS headcount will rise by more than 500.
Departments set to grow considerably in 2025-26 include the Attorney-General’s, up more than 500. Most of these are in the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) and Australian Federal Police.
Treasury will add 1700 positions, predominantly at the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
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Originally published as Coalition to rely on ‘strong job market’ to cull the public service by 30,000 people
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