Consulting and labour-hire firms in Australia are on notice that going forward, there will be fewer contracts and less taxpayers’ money for them, following Saturday’s election of a Labour government led by Anthony Albanese, reports The Mandarin Australia. An economic plan released by Labour during the election campaign set out its key economic objectives, including a fresh focus on the public sector. A significant part of that plan was to cut back on the number of consultants and labour-hire firms used to fulfil public sector roles. The 13-page document will be the basis for the actions that now treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher take towards the public sector. The Labour party said it was concerned about the reliance on external consultants and labour-hire firms costing the government billions each year and that the Coalition’s staffing-cap policy for the public service meant contractors were relied upon even more.

“Analysis of federal government contracts, for services such as consulting, staffing and recruitment, has found the Commonwealth’s market in 2020 for ‘private’ or external labour had doubled in just the previous five years and is now costing taxpayers in excess of AUD 5 billion (USD 3.5 billion) a year,” Labour’s policy on public sector workforce states. The staffing cap will be abolished by the incoming Labour government and it will seek to reduce the reliance on external contractors by 10% in the first year. “This sensible reduction will generate savings of AUD 3 billion (USD 2.1 billion) over four years,” the policy says. An audit of employment is expected for the public service and for ongoing jobs to replace consulting or outsourced arrangements where the auditors find external contractors are being used inappropriately.