The federal government has conceded little policy development has been completed around forced moves of public service departments and agencies to the regions, but promised future plans will be "more structured" than the pesticides authority controversial relocation.
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Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told a Senate budget estimates hearing on Wednesday night the only significant detail about the plan to move agencies and departments out of cities including Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne to regional centres was contained in a speech by deputy National Party leader Fiona Nash last month and a doorstop press conference by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce a day later.
He said relocation of the Australian Pesticides And Veterinary Medicines Authority to Mr Joyce's own electorate of New England had been an election promise, but detail of a government-wide decentralisation push this year was being prepared.
A template business case for relocations is being prepared by the Department of Finance, with government ministers required to justify why agencies and workforces in their portfolios should stay in the city by August. Cabinet will then decide on who stays and who goes, a plan Senator Cormann said he supported.
Any new moves, expected to include Nationals-held electorates, would be incorporated into the 2018-19 budget due in May next year.
He rejected criticism of the plans from Labor's Katy Gallagher, coming alongside criticism by the ACT government, business groups and a Productivity Commission report highlighting weaknesses of decentralisation efforts.
"So far the only decision that has been made is a decision to set up a process for the future selection of decentralisation opportunities, to make sure these decisions are soundly based," Senator Cormann said.
"We haven't made specific decentralisation decisions on existing agencies. What the government has put forward... is that we would be setting up a process to consider appropriate Commonwealth entities and companies and executive agencies that may be suitable for decentralisation.
"We've made an announcement about obviously a future direction and we've set out the process and the high-level standard criteria that will help guide our decision making."
The Finance Minister said he had not seen criticism of the plan from Heather Henderson, daughter of Liberal Party founder Sir Robert Menzies who led mid-century development of Canberra.
Mrs Henderson said the plan was "retrograde" and questioned why millions will be spent to make government less efficient.
Senator Cormann said he held Mrs Henderson in high regard and pledged the business case process would be "robust".
"When it comes to the relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, that was an election commitment that we took to the last election.
"What we are proposing now is a more structured process for assessment... a more structured ongoing process," Senator Cormann said.
