THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Attorney-General
Minister for Emergency Management
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
MEDIA RELEASE
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERS COMPLEX SERVICES EFFICIENTLY IN A GROWING ECONOMY
Contrary to media reports today, the Gillard Government's cap on SES growth in the Australian Public Service has been very effective, with numbers falling since the cap was put in place in June 2010 and growth in Executive Level positions declining from 5.3% to 3.8% last year.
The Australian Public Service did not grow last year, said Mark Dreyfus, Attorney-General and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity.
The 2012-13 Budget papers showed a reduction in the General Government Sector for the first time in many years 3300 fewer than the average staffing level reported for Budget 2011.
The Gillard Government understands the importance of efficiently and cost-effectively delivering services to the Australian community, and that this requires maintaining a well-resourced, highly skilled public service capable of meeting complex demands and challenges.
We don't believe in the wholesale slashing of public sector jobs like we've seen in Queensland, which rob the community of vital services and which Tony Abbott would do if elected.
The 2010 Beale Review into the Reform of Australian Government Administration found that, of a sample 238 SES roles, the vast majority 89 per cent were correctly classified, with 3 per cent under-classified and only 8 per cent over-classified.
Government agencies are being required to evaluate all SES roles by the end of 2014 against the SES work level standards developed through the Beale Review, which will ensure that SES roles have been, and continue to be, correctly classified.
The cap on SES growth has also been extended for a further five years to the end of 2016.
With an expanding economy, public servants are required to deliver a greater number of services to a growing population and in increasingly complex areas such as national security, industry, health and education, said Mr Dreyfus.
The Government has made more than $13 billion in public sector savings since 2007, including:
- More efficient travel arrangements, which have saved $240 million
- Better management of Commonwealth ICT, which has saved more than $2 billion
- More effective management of Commonwealth Property, which has saved $1.2 billion
- Dramatically reduced expenditure on government advertising which cost over $250 million in 2007, in the last year of the Howard Government
The Gillard Government is focussed on finding government efficiencies in these areas IT, hospitality, recruitment not by slashing jobs which directly impact on the community and the important services they rely on.
TUESDAY, 2 APRIL 2013
