The CPSU has been a long-term critic of the outsourcing of public sector work to private, for-profit companies.
“Outsourcing is an expensive, ineffective and irresponsible practice that became entrenched in the APS under the former Coalition Government and caused extensive damage to the capability of the APS.
“This report confirms that the best place for public sector work to be, is in the hands of public sector workers.
“It is an almost 200-page document detailing the problems and challenges that come with giving big businesses, like PwC and KPMG, large sums of taxpayer dollars for them to do work that could and should be done by capable and accountable public servants.
“The Albanese Labor Government has a responsibility to end the overreliance on consultants and contractors and rebuild the APS. Significant progress has been made over the past two years, but the job is far from done.
“We want to see transparent public reporting, real accountability for conduct of entities with government contracts, clear targets to insource work and ongoing investment in public service capability including staffing and pay.
“These private companies will always have a profit motive, they will always have conflict of interest risks, they will always lack accountability and transparency. And they will always fall short when it comes to meeting public service standards because they are not operating to service the public, they are operating to service profit margins.
“We will have more to say in coming days as we consider the report in detail.
All quotes attributable to Melissa Donnelly, CPSU National Secretary.
12th June 2024
