Budget Review October 2022–23 Index
Philip Hamilton
Staffing
When discussing public sector employees, budget papers use
Average Staffing Level (ASL) to adjust for casual and part-time staff when showing
the average number of full-time equivalent employees. ASL is almost always
lower than a headcount, which is the method used by the Australian
Public Service Commission (APSC).
In the 2015–16 Budget, the Coalition Government undertook to
maintain the general government sector’s (GGS) size, excluding military and
reserves, at around
or below the 2006–07 ASL of 167,596 (2016–17
Budget paper no. 4, p. 132). This policy, referred to by the
main public
sector union as the ‘ASL cap’, was largely maintained until the Covid-19
pandemic in early 2020. In April 2022 the Library’s Budget
review 2022–23 summarised ASL fluctuations during the pandemic. During
the 2022 election campaign Labor
promised to abolish the ASL cap.
Budget paper no. 4 indicates that total ASL in the GGS
has increased to 181,122, almost 8,000 higher than the pandemic-affected 2021–22
estimate of 173,142 (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 159). The ASL increase is partly due to budgeted
improvements in front-line service delivery, partially met from Services
Australia’s existing resourcing. An allocation of $500.2 million over 4 years,
and $145.6 million each year thereafter will provide an additional 1,080 staff across
the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (500), the NDIA (380) and Services Australia
(200) (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 81).
Capability
Having committed during the election campaign to improving
the APS, in a
recent speech the Minister for the Public Service, Katy Gallagher,
outlined the Government’s reform ideas. Specific details are likely to emerge
from the main Budget measure, which allocates $40.8 million for the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) and the APSC to ‘develop and
implement an ambitious reform plan to strengthen the APS’ (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 169). This will probably be led by Gordon
de Brouwer, the recently-appointed
Secretary for
Public Sector Reform. In September 2022 a Parliamentary
Library Flagpost summarised key issues likely to influence APS reform plans.
Priority capability areas specified in the Budget include:
- Service delivery, through a Charter of Partnerships and
Engagement (Budget
paper no. 4, p.4)
- Increasing employment for First Nations peoples, people with a
disability and gender equality (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 6).
- $11.5m over 4 years for 1,000 Digital Traineeships focusing on ‘First
Nations peoples, women, older people, veterans transitioning to civilian roles
and their spouses’ (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 9).
- Facilitated by APSC-university partnerships, four regional APS Academy Campuses will open by
2024 to pilot ‘new ways of supporting entry-level jobs’ (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 8).
- $25.0 million over two years (from 2023–24) for an APS Capability
Reinvestment Fund (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 169).
The APSC will lead a new cycle of capability reviews, the
first of which have reportedly
already commenced and will be finalised by mid-2024 (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 7). The APSC
website reports that over 20 APS capability reviews were conducted from
2011 to 2016.
ICT
projects
An allocation of $31.3 million in 2022–23 will extend the current
Cyber
Hubs Pilot while evaluations are ongoing (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 106). This is a slight variation from a measure in the
March 2022–23 Budget, which allocated $30.2 million to extend the Pilot until
the end of 2022 (April BP2, p. 157). The Pilot commenced in July 2021 to
establish ‘centres of expertise to respond to rapidly increasing and persistent
cyber security threats’. The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) coordinates
the program in partnership with multiple hosting agencies, supported by the
Australian Cyber Security Centre’s technical expertise (March
2022 Budget paper no. 4, p. 15). However, in a recent report the Australian
National Audit Office criticised the DTA for its ICT procurement practices,
including in relation to Cyber Hubs.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has
been allocated $5.5 million over two years from 2022–23 in relation to the
Optus data breach (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 47). Other agency- and portfolio-specific public sector
ICT initiatives have been noted in post-Budget media
reporting.
Operations
Spending reductions
The Government’s election
commitment was to save $3.6 billion over 4 years by reducing spending on
external labour, advertising, travel and legal expenses. BP2 outlines a staged
approach, in which ‘only the FY2022–23 impact [$642.5 million] will be
allocated to GGS agencies’. Although savings in each of the three forward
estimates years are specified, bringing total savings to $3.6 billion, BP2
explains that ‘the allocation of the remaining financial year impacts in the
2023–24 Budget will be guided by the Government’s broader Australian Public
Service initiatives, including the Audit of Employment’ (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 83). This suggests that the exact pathways to achieving
the savings target will evolve as agencies recalibrate the mix of employed
staff, and contract labour hire and consultants.
Notably absent from the Budget papers and related messaging
from the Government is the Efficiency
Dividend (ED). Since 1987–88 it has been usual for successive Australian
governments to apply an ED to ‘departmental’ (operating) expenses of Australian
Government agencies, reducing funding to account for increased public sector
productivity over time. The most recent public confirmation of ED rates appears
to have been in the Mid-Year
Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2019–20 (MYEFO) of December 2019. The
Library understands that, as foreshadowed in the MYEFO statement, an ED of 1.0%
has been applied in 2022–23. In April 2022 the Library’s Budget
review 2022–23 included a brief summary of ED implementation over
recent years.
Procurement
The Budget notes that the recently-established Future
Made in Australia Office is funded through the existing resources of the
Department of Finance and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 106). The Office aims to ‘support the uplift of
procurement and contracting capability across the APS to provide government
buyers with the skills, tools and resources they need’ and, for potential
suppliers, will deliver ‘targeted learning events to raise awareness on how to do
business with the Government’.
Net zero emissions by 2030
The Department of Finance has received $7.1 million over two
years to implement ‘an interim policy and reporting framework’ for the APS to
have net zero emissions by 2030. Costs will be met from within existing
resources and will exclude security agencies (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 169).
Noting that only 0.1% of Commonwealth Fleet vehicles are
electric, the Government will implement a low emissions vehicle target of 75%
of new Commonwealth passenger vehicle purchases and leases by 2025. This
long-term measure comprises $15.9 million over 4 years and $6.0 million per
year to 2032–33 (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 109).
National Security Office Precinct
The Budget provides resources to further develop the
National Security Office Precinct in Barton (ACT). Development of the Precinct
commenced in 2020 and aims for ‘a permanent solution to the critical
accommodation and capability requirements of several national security and
other Commonwealth agencies’. Media
reports have indicated that the development will house around 5,000 staff.
To facilitate Precinct development, a multi-level car park will be constructed
in the Parliamentary Triangle. For commercial and national security reasons,
the financial impact of the project is undisclosed (Budget
paper no. 2, pp. 107-108).
National Anti-Corruption Commission
On 28 September the Government introduced a
Bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), along with a
related consequential and transitional provisions Bill. With the NACC intended
to subsume the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) and
commence operations in 2023–24, the Budget funds preparatory measures in
2022–23, and anticipates substantive ongoing funding from 2023–24. This comprises
$262.6 million over 4 years for the NACC’s establishment and ongoing operations,
with some funding met from the ACLEI’s existing resourcing (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 51).
In 2022–23, $27.5 million is allocated for ACLEI ‘in
preparation for transition to the Commission’. Additionally, the
Attorney-General’s Department is allocated $7.6 million over 4 years (and subsequently
$0.7 million per year) to assist with the NACC’s establishment and provide financial
assistance to support witnesses or people seeking review regarding NACC
decisions.
Department of Parliamentary Services
Two functions of the Department of Parliamentary Services
(DPS) will share $15.9 million over 4 years from 2022–23:
- Hansard and broadcasting services will receive $5.1 million over
4 years from 2022–23 (and subsequently $1.5 million per year) for staffing
- The Parliamentary Library will receive $10.8 million over 4 years
from 2022–23 (and subsequently $2.0 million per year). Of the $15.9 million allocated
to DPS, $2.7 million is identified as capital funding, apparently for the
Library rather than Hansard and broadcasting (Budget
paper no. 2, p. 168).
In
June 2022 it was reported that ‘the government has promised to boost
resourcing to the Parliamentary Library to account for the larger
crossbenches’. Budget
paper no. 4 indicates that DPS’ aggregate staffing ASL will increase by
seven, from 961 in 2021–22 to 968 in 2022–23 (Budget
paper no. 4, p. 152). In line with usual practice, Budget
paper no. 4 does not provide ASL figures for functional areas within an
agency, so it is not clear how many additional positions will be added to the
Library, and to Hansard and broadcasting.
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