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.
The Federal Budget in March forecast an increase to the government’s average staffing level by 3436 jobs for 2025-26.
Labor has also committed to slashing a further $719 million in external resourcing by 2028-29, a saving that will total $4.7 billion since 2022.
But the reality is that labour hire will need to increase if the government wants to achieve everything it says it will do.
The caretaker period and federal election, along with the Coalition’s scare tactics over mass job losses in the APS, all combined to create a mini drought in job opportunities across the sector.
Recruitment and APS sources say the situation is about to change.
Although there has been an extended quiet period for recruitment agencies and talented workers, they are now poised to take up a flood of new opportunities in the Commonwealth.
Labor’s thumping election win allows it to surge ahead with its progressive policy agenda with far fewer encumbrances than last term.
Come 1 July, there will be a concerted recruitment drive across many APS agencies, with a focus on labour hire contracts.
“The government now has a golden ticket to make substantive changes and roll out loads of policies, and it is going to need white collar muscle to get the work done,” one source said.
“The workforce needs to expand, but Labor will be reluctant to further increase its permanent APS footprint.
“And as anyone in Canberra knows, to get work done in the APS, the public service relies on contractors.”
Another said there was already a labour hire recruitment push that will only increase with the new financial year.
“The ambition is so great that there are not enough staff to carry out the projects,” they said.
“Labour hire is the natural step and you will see it boom after the end of the financial year.”
An example is the Education Department, where the federal election brought little disruption for Minister Jason Clare.
He can now unleash his ambitions in the portfolio for education, higher education, early education and childcare reforms.
All these areas underwent substantial policy groundwork last term, with much of the implementation still to come.
“We will need more personnel to do this, and it will be done largely through labour contracts,” a department source said.
The same can be said for Defence, Health and a string of other big departments with huge tasks ahead of them.
“We’ve got so many vacancies to fill, but they are all temporary labour hire contracts,” one APS contact told Region.
“If you’re good at the job, though, those contracts will keep being renewed.”
The recruitment push has already begun, with contracts being advertised for public service positions across the sector.
A simple scan of vacancy opportunities reveals numerous positions available for those with skills in areas such as grants assessment, financial analysis, compliance, project management, team leadership, and change management.
They mostly talk in terms of “12-month contracts”, “potential 12-month extension”, “labour hire contract until the end of the calendar year”, “labour hire until 30 June 2026”, “possibility of extension”.
Many agencies are already advertising to fill dozens of contracts each in the new financial year.
“It’s a bit of a cloak and dagger; chicken and egg; now you see me, now you don’t situation,” one APS source said.
“The government has to have external contractors and more of them, but it also needs to be seen to be reducing them.”
