The public sector is part of the engine room of the ACT. Take a look at what was making news in the public service in 2025.
12. Law passes to make bosses pay super the same time as wages
by Chris Johnson
Superannuation will have to be paid the same time as wages are paid under laws that have passed parliament. Photo: Josie Elias.
Labor’s Superannuation Guarantee bill has passed through Federal Parliament, meaning a new law will require employers from July next year to pay their workers’ super at the same time they pay their salary and wages.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino were so pleased with the outcome of the vote that they issued a joint statement on 4 November to applaud the development.
11. ‘Historic leap forward’: Navy commits to fleet of autonomous submarine ‘Ghost Sharks’
by Andrew McLaughlin
The Ghost Shark XLAUV is about the size of a bus and can operate autonomously on underwater surveillance or strike missions. Photo: ADF.
The Royal Australian Navy has committed to the procurement of a fleet of advanced Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles to augment its submarine and surface vessel capabilities.
The Anduril Ghost Shark has been under joint development with the RAN since 2022 and, to date, the government has committed $140 million to its design, testing and developing potential concepts of operation.
10. APS bosses told to find big savings, sparking fears of public service job losses
by Chris Johnson
Katy Gallagher’s department has asked APS departments and agencies to find savings in their budgets. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
APS bosses have been ordered to slash costs and find savings of 5 per cent. The union fears job losses and a reversal of APS ‘repair’. Liberal Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell says it’s long overdue budget repair.
9. Study finds widespread dissatisfaction with military discharge experience
by Andrew McLaughlin
A new report says few ADF members going through the discharge process are treated with the same loyalty and respect they are expected to embody while in service. Photo: ADF.
Loyalty and respect are attributes serving ADF personnel are expected to embody. But a report has found that few feel they are shown loyalty and respect while being discharged from the service.
Led by Australian Army veteran, clinical psychologist and Flinders University PhD candidate Cameron Grant, the study analysed responses from nearly 400 former ADF members and was published in Frontiers in Psychology.
8. Travelling public servants chasing status credits put on notice
by Chris Johnson
Status runs for flying public servants are prohibited, but that doesn’t mean they’re not happening. Photo: Canberra Airport/Facebook
Public servants booking expensive flights to accrue more airline status credits could be a thing of the past if the Finance Department gets serious about clamping down on the practice.
Currently, status credits can still be accrued by government travellers (unlike frequent flyer points), but APS policy explicitly forbids officials from letting that influence when flights are selected.
The Finance Department has heard evidence that these rules are being flouted, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also taken a close look at how status credits are being exploited.
7. Public service embrace of AI goes next level with new integration tool
by Chris Johnson
Artificial intelligence in the APS is here to stay and the Federal Government has launched GovAI to help with its use. Photo: Tom Sompong.
The Federal Government is serious about its workforce embracing artificial intelligence and is launching a new platform to help public servants get on board.
Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher is promoting GovAI, which she says will empower Australian Public Service employees to develop AI skills safely and ethically.
6. ATO whistleblower case shows how little they are actually protected
by Chris Johnson
Richard Boyle exposed unethical debt-collecting practices at the Australian Taxation Office. Photo: File
The inadequacy of Australia’s whistleblower protection laws was highlighted once more with the sentencing of former Australian Taxation Office employee Richard Boyle.
Mr Boyle received a 12-month good behaviour bond on 28 August, with no conviction recorded, after more than seven years of legal battles following his public exposure of some of the ATO’s unethical debt recovery practices.
As a tax debt collection officer, he and his colleagues were instructed to use heavy-handed techniques against taxpayers who owed money.
5. DFAT leasing deal will mean all Canberra staff will call Barton home
by Ian Bushnell
An artist’s impression of the new A-grade building to be developed at 19 National Circuit. Image: Colliers.
All Canberra staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be housed in Barton from the second half of 2027 after the signing of a 15-year lease for a new 19,800 square metre office building to be built at 19 National Circuit.
DFAT will move the third of its 4500 staff working out of two office sites in the CBD and one in Barton, separate from the RG Casey Building nearby, to the new building.
4. Labour hire contracts set to boom across APS
by Chris Johnson
Labour hire contracts are set to rise across many APS agencies. Photo: Pixelfit.
Following months of uncertainty over available work in the Australian Public Service, labour hire contracts are set to balloon again as the second-term Labor government pushes ahead with its agenda.
While the Federal Government’s position is to prioritise in-house employment, sources are telling Region that there aren’t enough permanent staff to roll out the number of projects already in the pipeline.
3. Crackdown on burgeoning illicit tobacco trade
by Chris Johnson
The lucrative illicit tobacco trade has resulted in arson attacks against sellers. Photo: Victoria Police.
The Federal Government is set to crack down on the illegal tobacco trade in Australia, which until now has appeared too widespread an issue for the law to be able to handle.
With tobacconists opening up across the nation in ever-increasing numbers and becoming bolder and more open in the way they promote their cheap cigarettes and tobacco, the problem has gotten out of hand.
Criminal elements behind the illegal trade have even engaged in wars against each other, with cases of some tobacconists having shops set on fire or otherwise destroyed.
2. Soaring SES pay rises leave regular APS employees in their dust
by Chris Johnson
The senior ranks of the APS have had a median pay rise of 7.4 per cent, compared to 3.8 per cent for those in the lower ranks. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Pay rises for the senior ranks of the public service far outstripped those given to their juniors last year, with most bosses getting percentage top-ups to their salaries that were almost twice what the regular workforce got.
The Australian Public Service Remuneration Data Release 2024 showed that for the 2023-24 financial year, Senior Executive Service base salaries had a median increase of 7.4 per cent, while the non-SES increase was only 3.8 per cent.
1. Finance takes control of Services Australia and welfare payments
by Chris Johnson
Services Australia is now under the direct control of the Department of Finance. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Department of Social Services has lost its oversight of social security payments and service delivery policy, through machinery of government changes placing Services Australia under the direct control of the Department of Finance.
The move signals a significant shakeup of how the delivery of Centrelink services will be administered going forward.
