The election of a Coalition government will have significant
consequences for the Commonwealth Public Service.
The Coalition has indicated that it can accumulate approximately
$5.2 billion in savings by shedding 12,000 jobs in the public
sector. This estimate is based on a reduction of 6,000 positions by
June 2014 and a further 6,000 positions by September 2015.
The Prime Minister elect has stated publicly that the reduction
in the size in the public service will come from natural attrition
and a "freeze" on new public sector jobs. The Community
and Public Sector Union has however argued that large scale
redundancies are inevitable if the reduction is to be
achieved1.
The Coalition has indicated that the freeze in public sector
employment would apply to a large number of agencies outside of the
main departments. Agencies that may be affected by the freeze
include the AFP, Customs, Future Fund, Austrade, Australian
Research Council, National Water Commission,
