Latest news with #AustralianPublicService
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Burnout, underinvestment to blame for productivity slump, not working from home: Aussie academic
Overwork, burnout and underinvestment are the cause of falling productivity, not working from home, a workplace expert and academic says. A major report released this week by the Productivity Commission has found working from home at least some of the time is more productive than being in the office full-time. Multinational companies are mostly pulling the rank and file workers back into offices, while government agencies and academics work to assess the effectiveness of the pandemic-era work from home shift. 'There's no evidence to suggest working from home is the root cause of these recent productivity challenges, which have been going since long before most people were working from home,' Swinburne University workplace expert  John Hopkins said. 'Overwork, burnout, underinvestment, outdated processes, and cost of living pressures are likely factors behind poor productivity.' During the federal election campaign, the Coalition quickly-abandoned a proposal for public servants to be back in offices five days a week. The architect of that failed policy, Liberal Senator Jane Hume, said in the lead-up to the election: 'It will be an expectation of a Dutton Liberal government that all members of the (Australian Public Service) work from the office five days a week. But the proposal was so despised it was abandoned mid-campaign, and Senator Hume has since been dumped from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's newly-minted shadow cabinet. Released on Thursday, the Productivity Commission report finds arrangements where staff work from both the office and at home tend to benefit both productivity and job satisfaction. 'Allowing workers to work from home some days can improve worker satisfaction and allows people to benefit by avoiding the commute to work, meaning they have additional time for other purposes,' the commission finds. Working from home reduces sick days, breaks and distractions 'all of which are typically found to be beneficial for productivity', it says in the report. About 36 per cent of working Australians regularly do a shift from home; a tripling since before the pandemic. Working from home is markedly better for women, the Productivity Commission finds, however younger workers miss out on face-to-face learning. The report points to falling business investment as the reason national productivity fell by 1.2 per cent in 2024.
Epoch Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Labor Defends Consultant Cuts as It Takes Aim at Coalition's Public Service Slashes
While Labor targeted Coalition's plan to cut 41,000 public servants as a point of contention, it has also defended its own move to slash 54,000 private consultants. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers argue Labor is targeting waste, not essential services. Albanese added that Labor's cuts were about value for money. 'We are cutting on wasteful spending,' he said. 'A public service officer works for a reasonable wage—$200,000 for a senior role—but a consultant for the same role works half the time, getting paid double the amount under the Coalition.' He said the Coalition's reliance on consultants had real consequences. 'The consultant culture led to 42,000 veterans being denied their entitlements—men and women who had served our nation in uniform, some of whom passed away before they got the entitlements they had earned,' he said. Related Stories 3/3/2025 3/27/2025 'We are backing Australians. Peter Dutton is sacking Australians.' Impact on Vital Agencies Albanese warned the Coalition's cuts would gut key public services, including Services Australia, the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the National Emergency Management Agency. He questioned what would happen to critical agencies if 41,000 public service jobs were lost. 'What happens with ASIO, with Operation Sovereign Borders, with the Australian Signals Directorate?' he asked. 'These security and defence agencies represent more than 20,000 of the 68,000 public servants currently in Canberra; 41,000 of them are going to be sacked. That will have a devastating impact on Australian services.' Billions in Savings Defended Chalmers said Labor had already saved billions by cutting back on consultants, and would continue reducing waste. 'We are making billions of dollars of savings, investing in the capacity of the Australian Public Service, while winding back outrageous levels of spending on contractors and consultants,' he said. He dismissed claims that the figures were 'creative accounting.' 'When we came to office, the public service was hollowed out. Too much spending on contractors and consultants,' he said. Chalmers accused Dutton of borrowing policies from overseas. 'He wants the Americanisation of health, the public service, and education,' he said. 'He draws his inspiration from U.S. politics and slogans. We believe in the capacity of the Australian Public Service.' Coalition: No Forced Job Losses Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has downplayed the fallout from the proposed cuts, saying that no jobs would be lost outside Canberra. 'We've been very clear about that,' Dutton said, adding that some of the 41,000 positions could come from existing vacancies. Nationals Leader David Littleproud said many of the positions were already vacant and would simply not be filled. The Coalition confirmed frontline and national security roles would be protected, and there would be no forced redundancies. The projected $7 billion in savings is to be delivered over five years through voluntary exits, unfilled vacancies, and a freeze on new hiring.
Canberra Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Canberra Times
Top secretary hands in surprise resignation
"Professor Davis was instrumental in driving this change. He worked calmly and steadily to reassert the purpose of the public service, and I thank him on behalf of the government, the Australian Public Service, and the Australian people."
7NEWS
05-05-2025
- Politics
- 7NEWS
Temu-Trump and Timbit-Trump tank in elections as US President paints disturbing picture of conservative leadership
Conservative parties lost by a landslide in the recent Australian and Canadian federal elections. The defeat of both the Liberal Party of Australia, and the Conservative Party of Canada a week earlier, came as a shock to the many who tipped them to win, following national polls in their favour just months earlier. But the re-election of Donald Trump, and the swift implementation of his world-rattling policies, set into motion an urgent reorganisation of priorities for voters around the world. How leaders would respond to Trump's policies, and handle their redefined relationships with him, was brought front and centre, as were fears that parties would concede and conform to Trump's controversial style of conservative leadership, after recognising its success in the US. In the end, both Peter Dutton and Pierre Poilievre did not just lose their elections, they lost their seats. Throughout his campaign, Dutton had been nicknamed Temu-Trump, referencing the online retailer known for cheap copies. Canadians similarly called their own conservative leader Timbit-Trump — a nod to the small doughnut holes sold at the nation's hugely popular chain Tim Horton's. Poilievre was also commonly called 'Maple MAGA'. While conservative parties often boast stability, Trump does quite the opposite, and comparisons to the US president bring with them problems when promising predictability, Aside from tariffs, Trump is willing to make moves that unnerve massive cohorts of his conservative following, From claiming Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was 'gambling with World War III' by refusing to give up the Crimean Peninsula, to posting an AI-generated image of himself in a papal headdress, alongside a caption that said he would 'like to be Pope' the night before the Australian election. 'Im my own person' Dutton made attempts to distance himself from Trump, insisting: 'I'm my own person.' But the comparisons had already begun to mount. One such comparison came as Dutton proposed a plan to reduce the Australian Public Service by 41,000 workers, just months after Trump fired thousands of workers, including top officials and watchdogs, and dismantled a key humanitarian agency. Dutton's stance on migrants, and his branding of the nation's public broadcaster as 'hate media', both draw similarities with Trump, alongside accusations that Dutton stokes culture wars in Australia. Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price also publicly vowed to 'make Australia great again', a clear echo of Trump's famous rally cry. And there were claims that Donald Trump's campaign co-manager secretly visited Australia to help with Liberal strategy ahead of election In Canada, which Trump earlier this year threatened to annex and absorb, an even more imminent problem was created. Cansdian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back hard against Trump during his election campaign and spoke to this in his victory speech late last month. 'As I have been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. But these are not idle threats. 'President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never ever happen.'
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Federal Election 2025: Chalmers takes aim at Coalition's ‘savage cuts'
Jim Chalmers has blasted the Coalition's 'savage cuts' after the opposition released its election policy costings promising 'a $14bn bottom-line budget improvement over the forward estimates'. The costings forecast the budget deficits would be $7.9bn worse off than under a re-elected Albanese government for two years before climbing to at least $10bn less than Labor in the following two years. With key savings coming from cuts to the public service and foreign aid, the Treasurer said the Coalition was offering 'a recipe for higher taxes'. 'Higher taxes, savage cuts and still bigger deficits under the Coalition are in their costings today,' Mr Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane. 'Now there are savage cuts in Peter Dutton's costings, but they are just the beginning. 'Savage cuts to training, savage cuts to housing are savage cuts to energy are higher income taxes for 14 million Australians and more student debt for students.' Announcing the long-awaited accounting a little over an hour earlier, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor slammed Labor's handling of the economy over the past three years and warned Australia was heading toward '$1.2 trillion of debt'. 'In contrast … what we've announced today is a $14bn bottom-line budget improvement over the forward estimates,' Mr Taylor told reporters in Sydney. 'But on top of that, we've laid out a $40bn improvement in the debt position over that same time period.' He promised 'the biggest improvement in the budget position' while spruiking the Coalition's flagship immediate cost-of-living relief measures – cutting the fuel excise by 25 cents a litre for 12 months and a $1200 'a tax cut for first home buyers'. But for the first two years, the budget position would be $7.9bn worse off before a $21.8bn rebound. As for how the Coalition would achieve its budget goals, finance spokeswoman Jane Hume was clear. 'First and foremost, we will reduce government spending as a share of the economy,' Senator Hume told the same press conference. 'We will cut waste, control expenditure growth and ensure that every dollar that is spent by government is focused on delivering essential services and strengthening our nation, not growing bureaucracy.' She highlighted the opposition's flagship cost-savings plan to 'sensibly reduce the size of the (Australian Public Service) by 41,000 over a period of five years', insisting it would do so 'through a hiring freeze and through natural attrition … while protecting the services delivery and national security positions'. The plan would save $17.2bn, according to the Coalition. Though, experts have said the move — which were supposed to be Canberra-based jobs — was impossible without carving into services the Coalition promised not to touch. Peter Dutton has repeatedly said the public service cull would take place in the capital. But pressed for details, Senator Hume contradicted her boss, saying the cuts would 'focus on Canberra'. 'I should be clear, about 5000 or so of the 41,000 are people that haven't actually been hired yet,' she said. According to official data, some 7500 Canberra-based public service jobs were added between June 2022 and June 2024, as opposed to the 36,000 claimed by the opposition. The Coalition would also hike visa fees to offset its proposed permanent migration cuts, which would cost the budget some $4.2bn. It also added some detail to the nuclear policy, earmarking $36.4bn to 2035 and $118.2bn longer term. Foreign aid cuts 'catastrophic' Aid groups have taken aim at the Coalition's proposed $813.5m cut to the foreign aid budget, echoing a defining policy of Donald Trump's administration in the US. The consequences of the US's decision to freeze foreign assistance plunged global humanitarian works into chaos, leaving agencies scrambling for funds. The Coalition did clarify a carve out for the Pacific, where Australia is locked in a battle for influence with China. 'At a time of catastrophic global need, we'd hoped to see an increase in lifesaving aid, not an $813.5m cut that will likely hurt the world's most vulnerable children,' Save the Children chief executive Mat Tinkler said. 'We welcome the decision to spare the Pacific, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. 'But Australia has a responsibility beyond our region. 'We cannot turn our backs on Africa, South Asia and investment into critical global funds, particularly at a time when children there need us more than ever.' Meanwhile, the Australian Council for International Development said the proposal 'risks weakening one of Australia's most effective tools for peace, prosperity and stability'. 'A strong aid program is not just generous — it is smart, strategic, and deeply aligned with Australia's national interest,' chief executive Matthew Maury said. 'We acknowledge and appreciate that the current government has held the line on aid in difficult fiscal conditions. 'We continue to urge all political leaders to work together on a long-term plan to restore aid to 1 per cent of the federal budget — reclaiming the ambition that once united leaders across the political spectrum.'
