The federal bureaucracy will shed almost 1500 staff in coming months, most based in Canberra, as it struggles to cope with pending budget cuts.
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But insiders say even more job losses will be announced next month as the government pares back spending to try to deliver a surplus budget.
Do you know more? Contact Markus Mannheim on 02 6280 2230 or at aps6@canberratimes.com.au
The Regional Australia Department announced today it would reduce its 600-strong workforce by 66 employees.
It follows the Climate Change Department's decision to shed about a third of its staff.
Its secretary, Blair Comley, asked employees yesterday to consider applying for a redundancy, saying the department needed to reduce its workforce by up to 300 staff.
"We face a very tight budget situation over the next two years that will require conscious efforts to reduce the department's expenditure," Mr Comley said.
"Even after examining our supplier expenses and identifying savings, any realistic review of our future budgetary environment requires a substantial reduction in our workforce from the current level of just over 900, of which around 830 are ongoing, to closer to around 600-650 people by June 2013."
The two departments join a growing list of agencies that have already announced plans to retrench staff this year.
They include the departments of education (500 jobs), treasury (150), resources (100) and veterans' affairs (90), as well as the Bureau of Statistics (75), the Fairwork Ombudsman (70) and ComSuper (50).
The Health Department also announced earlier this year plans to shed an unspecified number of jobs, while many smaller agencies have told Senate estimates hearings they will be forced to reduce their workforces.
The Gillard government plans to save an extra $500 million in 2012-13 by increasing the "efficiency dividend" – an annual cut to agencies' administrative budgets – to a record high of 4 per cent.
However, Finance Minister Penny Wong has told agencies to try to avoid involuntary redundancies by instead spending less on travel, consultants and advertising.
The Community and Public Sector Union's national secretary, Nadine Flood, told ABC radio this morning she expected further job losses after next month's budget.
She said staff at the Climate Change Department were reeling from yesterday's announcement.
"Cuts of this scale are going to have an enormous impact on the department's capacity to lead our efforts on climate change and obviously have a very major impact on staff," she said.
Greens deputy leader Christine Milne said the government should be cutting wasteful subsidies to mining companies, not "sacking people whose job it is to help protect the climate".
"It's hard to see how the carbon price and investments in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency can be rolled out effectively if the Department of Climate Change loses a third of its staff."
