More than one in five Queensland public sector workers were casuals, temporary workers or on contracts, according to the latest figures.
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There were 226,469 full-time equivalent employees in the Queensland government public sector in the September quarter, an increase of 0.47 per cent on June.
Of those, 17 per cent of full-time equivalents (FTE) were temporary, 3 per cent casual and 1 per cent on contracts.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's department, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, had the highest rate of temporary staff, at 26 per cent, on a headcount.
A government spokesman said about 40 per cent (124) of the department's temporary staff were part of the whole-of-government Policy Futures Graduate Program.
"The program offers two-year temporary contracts to recent university graduates, giving participants a unique opportunity to work across a range of diverse and complex policy environments to develop into high-performing, outcomes-focused policy professions," he said.
The spokesman said DPC also managed several short-term projects, such as events associated with the Anzac centenary, and those employees were employed for the duration of the program.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services had the highest percentage of workers employed as casuals, according to headcount data, at 39 per cent. But casuals made up less than 1 per cent of the FTE workforce.
The Public Safety Business Agency had the highest proportion of FTE temporary workers, at 26 per cent, followed by the Queensland Museum at 25 per cent.
The Queensland Art Gallery had the highest percentage of FTE casuals, at 23 per cent, and also the lowest proportion of permanent employees, at 60 per cent.
Asked why the government needed to hire non-permanent workers, the spokesman said not all work or appointments were fixed and ongoing.
"Temporary employees are employed for fixed-term engagements of specific periods of time," he said.
Reasons for hiring temporary workers included replacing permanent employees who were absent, including those on maternity leave; specific short-term projects; and helping to meet peak workloads.
Contract employees included top bosses, such as senior executives, chief executives, and people employed for fixed-term and specific engagements.
"Casual employees are not permanent employees and normally work less than full-time hours for emergent and ad-hoc purposes," the spokesman said.
The rate of workers employed as casuals, temporary or on contracts was also at 21 per cent at the end of former LNP premier Campbell Newman's government in January 2015.
However, the total public sector grew by almost 30,000 since the Palaszczuk Labor government came to power, after the previous government slashed 14,000 jobs.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly argued she was restoring frontline services.
Last month, it was revealed the general government sector wages bill would total $101.38 billion over the next three years, $925 million more than was forecast in the budget.
QUT vice-chancellor Peter Coaldrake was commissioned to examine how data on public service employees was collected to ensure decisions about service provision were made with the best available information
