Abolitions and sell-offs galore as authorised Budget leaks abound

Money making mint to be sold, loss-making Australia Post kept, corporate watchdog registry slips leash.

13 May, 2014

Budget 2014: Hockey forced to junk target of 26,500 APS job cuts

Treasurer Joe Hockey has prevailed over hard-line factional rivals after the government started to massage down its APS job shedding estimates and moderate its message over the level of deep cuts needed.

12 May, 2014

Solar panel ‘trust mark’ powered-up for government buyers and consumers

The real quality and performance of increasingly popular photovoltaic products is being exposed to sunlight to put under-performers in the shade.

11 May, 2014

Tax set to fire 3,000 staff as Abbott’s ‘natural attrition’ promise for APS falls

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has given the green light to mass redundancies in government agencies to prosecute public service spending cuts in the forthcoming Budget.

9 May, 2014

Warning of surge in customer aggression caused by 6,000 APS job cuts

Survey of 5,800 government staff reveals blowouts in client waiting times, mistakes and chronic understaffing is hitting frontline services.

8 May, 2014

Stark warning from Shepherd on Commonwealth super funding and Future Fund

The man tasked with finding ways to save money has nominated ballooning Commonwealth Superannuation liability as a big problem that will need to be addressed one way or the other.

6 May, 2014

Goodbye White Ox: big tobacco loses last captive market as state prisons go smoke free

Tough, roll-your-own brands like White Ox once used to enable smokers to display their social status inside and outside the law. Now one of the key rituals used to help punctuate the time spent behind bars is being butted out – at least in Queensland.

6 May, 2014

Queensland puts new regional air services contracts to market

Calls for innovative bids to keep planes flying to outback towns.

6 May, 2014

NSW mandatory cyclist licencing bid hits child safety pothole

Cycling advocates warn that pushbike licences will create more problems than they solve and argue that minors should be legally allowed to stay off the road.

6 May, 2014

Outsourcing, APS efficiency and procurement in Audit Commission crosshairs

Tempered vision for privatised computing and shared services functions return to the fray as potential shake-up under Budget looms large.

2 May, 2014

Cut early, cut often: where the Commission of Audit wants the axe to fall on the APS

While welfare payments and tax shifts dominate National Commission of Audit’s wish list, there’s still plenty of potential pain points for the federal public sector.

1 May, 2014

Costs and taxes proposed to be shunted back to states under Commission of Audit wish list of cuts

After months of anticipation, the Treasurer and Finance Minister have released a review that is so ambitious, that many of its recommendations are unlikely to make it into policy.

1 May, 2014

Welfare and Tax primed by Hockey for core systems overhauls

Decades of sweating systems infrastructure has come back to haunt policymakers after the Treasurer cautioned replacements will cost ‘billions’.

29 April, 2014

Gartner snaps up last Australian Government Chief Information Officer Glenn Archer

Key former federal technocrat snares plum public sector analyst role.

29 April, 2014