Centrelink is asking clients not to call on Thursday afternoon as thousands of its workers prepare to walk off the job, but the welfare agency insists that payments will not be affected by the strike.
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Taxpayers, military veterans, and air travellers have also been warned to brace for disruption to government services on Thursday with tens of thousands of public servants joining the industrial action.
Workers at key agencies including Medicare, Centrelink and the Tax Office will go on strike around the country on Thursday, in a move designed to add to the pressure on the Government as strike action by Border Force and Immigration officials continues at international airports.
The public servants' union, the CPSU, is trying to force the federal government to settle the pay disputes that have been rumbling across the 152,000-strong public service since mid-2014.
Thursday's half-day strike will involve workers from the departments of Human Services, Employment, Environment, Education, Agriculture, Defence and Veteran Affairs, along with the Tax Office, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Bureau of Statistics.
Hank Jongen, from Human Services, the giant department that runs Centrelink and Medicare said on Wednesday that payments would not be hit by the strike, but customers should put off making telephone calls for another day.
"I want to assure you that customer payments will not be affected by this industrial action," Mr Jongen said.
"While we have robust contingency arrangements to minimise disruption to services, we'd also encourage our customers to keep in mind we may have reduced numbers of staff to assist them during this period.
"Our advice is: if you don't need to contact us urgently, consider delaying your query for a later day, or use our online services or Express Plus Apps to do your regular business with us."
The ATO and Veterans' Affairs also said on Wednesday that they could manage the strike without disruption to their services.
The union says services may be disrupted at customer service centres and call centres once the half-day action begins at lunchtime.
Public servants at Immigration, including officers of the controversial Australian Border Force, voted this week by a crushing nine-to-one margin to reject the pay offer on the table, the latest in a long line of rejections and a further sign the disputes are mired in stalemate.
Announcing the half-day stoppages, CPSU National Secretary Nadine Flood accused the Coalition government of an "18-month attack" on its own workforce.
"These workers are extremely frustrated with the government's 18-month attack on their rights and conditions. We are calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister Michaelia Cash to rethink this failed bargaining policy and work with the union to find a sensible way forward," the union leader said.
"This dispute was caused by government policy requiring Commonwealth agencies to go to war with their own workforce, to strip important workplace rights and conditions from enterprise agreements.
"Among today's striking members, for example, mums and dads working at Centrelink and Medicare are deeply worried about the loss of family-friendly conditions."
Senator Cash's office said on Wednesday that the minister would not be in a position to talk publicly about public service bargaining this week.
