For the second year in a row, Mr Joyce, the opposition's spokesperson for veterans' affairs, has accused the Albanese government of diluting the importance of Anzac Day and making April 25 "optional and exchangeable" by allowing commonwealth public servants to swap next week's Anzac Day public holiday for an alternative day off.

He wants to reverse a January 2023 determination that allows public servants to substitute Australia Day, the King's Birthday and Anzac Day for another day. That failing, Mr Joyce is suggesting hundreds of thousands of commonwealth employees take Anzac Day off work and attend memorial services.

The Assistant Minister for the Public Service said it was only in 2022 for a brief period, under the last months of the Morrison government, that public servants were instructed not to work on the three public holidays.

"The member for New England knows that for nine years of the Coalition government, there was flexibility to substitute days," Mr Gorman told The Canberra Times.

"We have continued that flexibility.

"Due to the nature of the public service, some employees are required to work on public holidays - indeed, due to the specific nature of that day or the ongoing responsibilities of government."

To substitute a gazetted public holiday for another day involves negotiation with a manager or agency head. There has also been controversy over whether Australia Day is observed by public servants or not on January 26.

Mr Joyce acknowledges the requirement for some public servant to work on Anzac Day, but said he wants to make it mandatory for most other government employees.

"Of course, there has always been a requirement for some Commonwealth public servants to work on Anzac Day such as our Federal Police, Border Security, military and staff at the Australian War Memorial. However, these employees have always been required to work", Mr Joyce said in a statement.

Mr Joyce said, as he has complained about the policy for the past two years, it must be a deliberate move by Labor.

"Initially it had been assumed the federal government accidentally included Anzac Day when it made the same policy for other public holidays such as Australia Day and the King's Birthday. But the policy stands even after it was pointed out in Parliament. So, it wasn't an accident," he said.

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Mr Gorman said Labor was just returning the policy to previous settings and Mr Joyce needed to refocus his attack.

"This is nothing more than another nasty, negative campaign from Peter Dutton's Coalition," the assistant minister said.

"Proving once again that they are more concerned with publicity than they are with the public service or public servants.

"Instead, the Albanese government is working hard to deliver real reform to the APS, following a decade of neglect and scandal."