The public service has lost more than 1700 staff in six months as it sheds casual workers employed to bolster its response to COVID-19.
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New figures from the agency overseeing the bureaucracy's workforce show its headcount fell to 148,700 in the six months to the end of 2020.
The Australian Public Service Commission said casual employees made up the bulk of the reduction in staffing. Casual workers were employed in the first half of 2020 as agencies responded to the economic and health emergencies of the pandemic.
"While the APS mobilised its staffing resources to support this response, an element of contingent workforce support was required to meet unprecedented demand reflected in an increase in non-ongoing staff," the commission said.
The number of non-ongoing staff - employed casually or for specific terms or tasks - fell by 1000 to 17,300 in the six months to December.
"While the impact of COVID-19 within Australia is being managed, the work required by the APS has not fully returned to pre-COVID operations," the APS commission said.
"Ongoing issues such as the vaccine rollout and support for fire and flood recovery demands a flexible approach to staff management."
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The main public sector union called for the government to invest in secure public service jobs to help the economic recovery instead of "slashing and burning" the service.
Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Melissa Donnelly said communities during the pandemic had looked to the public sector more than ever before.
"As we start to move to recovery, there are real opportunities, and the public service is a crucial piece of this puzzle," she said.
"With parts of the country back in lockdown and JobKeeper being taken away, strong public services are needed now more than ever."
Staff numbers fell at Services Australia and the Tax Office, two agencies that delivered welfare and stimulus programs aiming to limit the economic damage of COVID-19.
The Health Department gained about 100 staff in the last six months of 2020.
Unions and Labor have previously criticised the public service's increasing use of labour hire staff to deliver services.