A change in government would likely change the public service again after the 2022 election, now expected in May. It's less certain to what extent Labor would reshape the bureaucracy beyond a likely change in senior leadership, but there are two clear points on which its public sector policies differ from the Coalition's. One is a commitment to establishing a federal anti-corruption agency, which Labor has promised and the government has also promised but not delivered in this term of parliament. Another is spending on, and use of, consultants and contractors.

While the public service won't be explicitly discussed much in this election campaign, its state and its performance will still figure in debates about an integrity watchdog. A federal anti-corruption commission is an issue that matters to voters, and one that involves the public service.

The use of consultants and contractors will likely fly under the radar this election, but it's part of the public debate about government integrity. Outsourcing government tasks to consultants and contractors, who fall outside public service laws promoting accountability, is an increasingly bad look in an environment where the public demands stronger integrity mechanisms.

Advice to the federal government has become big business for consultants.

How will the "rivers of gold" - as Labor public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher calls them - flow after the election? As Stephen Bartos writes in this month's edition of The Public Sector Informant, neither of the major parties have laid out a vision for the public service in the immediate period leading up to the election. Their comments and actions during this term of parliament are useful guides.

Labor's views don't seem to have changed since it promised to reduce spending on outsourcing in 2019. Senator Gallagher's response last month to another Agriculture Department consultancy contract, with PwC in this case, sheds some light.

She said the government's caps on public service staffing have forced departments to use consultants, leading to government waste. Labor appears poised to reduce spending on consultants and contractors if it wins government.

What about the Coalition? The volume of government money going to consultancy firms speaks for itself, but the Coalition has budged in some small ways over the last year. It lifted, albeit temporarily, staffing caps in some portfolios with large numbers of contractors and major tasks to pull off, such as in aged care and veterans' affairs.

If it's listening to voters, the Coalition may do more to change its tune on outsourcing. Since 2019, COVID has forced many Australians to interact with government services, or shown them the value in keeping them well-resourced.

If the next government does reduce the public service's use of consultants and contractors, it will have to address some of the reasons behind its reliance on outsourcing. These are said to include the tendency to employ generalists rather than specialists in the bureaucracy.

There are considerations of fairness and social justice, too. Contractors report being denied opportunities for permanent employment and career advancement, putting them at a professional and personal disadvantage to public servants doing similar work.

Whichever party wins the election, these are issues that should not go ignored.

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