Consultants will be banned from doing core government work under new guidelines issued by the Australian Public Service Commission which aim to wind back the use of contractors in the public service.
It comes after disturbing revelations about the behaviour of some consultants, including PwC’s misuse of confidential government information, as well as concerns expressed in the landmark Thodey review of the APS that consultants are increasingly being used to perform what used to be core in-house capabilities.
The APS Strategic Commissioning Framework released by public service Katy Gallagher on Tuesday says work including developing cabinet submissions, drafting legislation and regulations, and policy formulation must be done by APS employees.
Procurement and contracts, standard cost benefit analysis, program delivery and grant management must also be brought back inhouse.
The framework limits outsourcing to specific circumstances, including when agencies are genuinely unable to fill a capability gap, where there’s a legislative need for independent advice, where unique specialist skills are required, or in the case of an urgent or unforeseen situation.
Contractors can also be used for non-core services such as property management, cleaning, construction, security and defence base health services.
Where consultants are required because of an APS gap, it will be the responsibility of the agency to build capability within its ranks, and transition the function back to public servants.
Agency heads to set targets, report on progress
Agency heads will be tasked with determining what constitutes core work and setting targets to reduce reliance on outsourcing by June 2024, including how many roles will be affected and the anticipated cost savings.
They will also have to report on their progress in annual reports from the next financial year.
“All agencies must move away from outsourcing work that is the core role of the APS or the agency,” the guidelines state.
“Agency heads are accountable for rebalancing their workforce to prioritise direct employment, strengthen capability, and ensure any use of external expertise enhances the work and knowledge of the APS.”
Senator Gallagher said the guidelines would help rebuild capability and expertise in the public service.
“We have an ambitious plan to reform the APS and this framework will ensure that from now on core work will only be done by APS employees,” she said.
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Honorable Minister should provide guidance to her own finance staff when rejecting highly skilled contractors who are willing to move back into APS. Their leadership staff can’t negotiate a competitive salary for those willing to move back in to APS.
Total idiocy. The APS depends on labour hire because no skilled professional will accept a 100k/yr APS salary when they can get triple that in the private sector.
Wait 12 months and they’ll all be hiring contractors again as their projects stall. The APS by its very nature is something that only appeals to the mediocre.
Clearly not workable, seen it all before multiple times; A short term purge of contractors will inevitably stall projects causing an increasing work backlog which at some time must be resourced to clear. Tactical work around solutions will proliferate in the short term just to keep things going & this then increases the overall ‘technical debt’ & actually adds to the need for contractors to be rehired given fixed ‘head count’…. seen it all before multiple times. The truth is the APS has proven over decades (this is not particularly new) to be thoroughly incapable of suitably paying or managing specialist Tech staff