The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has offered hundreds of permanent roles to casual staff even as it prepares to make more than 200 staff redundant because of a budget freeze imposed by the Morrison government, reports the Brisbane Times. More than 350 casual staff have been offered permanent positions in the months leading up to the national broadcaster's announcement of its five-year strategic plan, which ABC sources said could be revealed as early as Wednesday. Community and Public Sector Union's ABC section secretary Sinddy Ealy said many of the casuals have been offered permanent positions because they had been working regular shifts over long periods, unlike the irregular employment that casual work is intended for. The national broadcaster last week confirmed it would pay AUD 600,000 (USD 416,000) in penalties and another AUD 12 million (USD 8.3 million) in repayments to casual staff, but separately offered the permanent roles to casuals after the review. Meanwhile, other casual workers who received the ABC's repayments are saying they would have been owed twice what they received if there wasn't a six year legal limit on their claims.