The federal budget delivered further funding to bolster the Australian Public Service, a move the public sector union has welcomed.
Among the agencies to benefit from additional funding: national disability insurance agency the NDIA, aged care regulator the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Federal Police, and the Department of Defence.
“This budget continues a three-year effort to rebuild the public service after a decade of cuts and rampant outsourcing,” said Melissa Donnelly – national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union.
The investment in rebuilding APS capability and capacity has resulted in falling wait times and cleared backlogs, says the CSPU.
For example:
- aged pension claims are being processed 52 days faster on average – 32 days compared to 84 days, a 62 per cent reduction
- paid parental leave claims are being processed 28 days faster on average – 3 days compared to 31 days, a 90 per cent reduction
- Medicare patient claims are being processed 5 days faster on average – 2 days compared to 7 days, a 71 per cent reduction.
While the government’s work to rebuild the APS is ongoing, these improvements demonstrate the importance of investing in public services, said Donnelly. “The results of investment are clear. Faster processing times for pensioners, parents, and patients show what happens when you fund public services properly. And when disaster strikes, the Bureau of Meteorology, the National Emergency Management Agency, the ABC and Services Australia are there protecting, informing and supporting Australians.”
“When public services are well resourced, Australians get the services they need, when and where they need them,” Donnelly added.
While praising the Albanese government for its budget commitment to the APS, the CSPU voiced concern at opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plans to slash public sector jobs were the Coalition to form government after the upcoming election.
In his budget reply speech on 27 March, Dutton said the Coalition would cut all 41,000 positions created under the Labor government. The move will save more than $10bn over the forward estimates, he added.
Dutton did not specify which agencies would be culled, but did pledge that frontline services would be safe.
The cull “will decimate public services right around the country and return instead to wasteful and ineffective outsourcing”, said Donnelly, who called on the opposition leader “to be upfront with Australians about what public services his government would cut, and the impact for Australians who rely on those services”.
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