Labor was taking Services Australia back to a worse pre-digital era, the opposition has claimed, after a suite of technology job losses at the agency last week.
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The agency confirmed to The Canberra Times that up to a thousand jobs, filled by contractors, would end in the weeks leading up to Christmas, as major ICT projects and pandemic surge support wrapped up.
At least 400 contractors were told their employment was ending on December 2.
The Canberra Times has heard further cuts were planned for January, but details and a future timeline of additional cuts expected over the coming months have not been confirmed by the agency.
The losses amount to a hit to digital service delivery with service quality "likely to get worse", opposition spokesman for government services Paul Fletcher said on Monday.
"Losing these tech jobs means a missed opportunity to improve the digital service experience of Australians who are transacting with Centrelink and Medicare," he said.
"The sad consequence for Australians dealing with Services Australia is that they can expect plenty more confusing paper forms, slow turnaround times and underwhelming customer service."
He questioned why the Labor government did not announce any new digital service initiative in the October budget and said Government Services Minister Bill Shorten needed to explain how many IT contractor jobs would be cut and when.
Services Australia has only confirmed two programs were impacted, the Welfare Payment Infrastructure Transformation and the Residential Aged Care Funding Reform, however The Canberra Times has independently come to learn that the GovERP program has also been impacted with mass cuts in the past week.
The massive SAP S/4 HANA implementation will eventually manage the payroll for almost every public servant across the APS, apart from Defence, but is far from completed, The Canberra Times has been told by individuals who have been let go from the project.
Work on the GovERP project will continue with an expected onboarding of the first additional agencies in 2023, a spokesman for Services Australia said.
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The agency said it has offered support for those impacted, both through their contract employer and directly, and reached out to other public service agencies who may be in a position to offer them opportunities.
"A number of commercial ICT contracts recently reached the end of their requirements," the spokesman said.
"The contracts were for the provision of specialist ICT expertise to support Services Australia's response to the COVID pandemic and the delivery of major projects such as the Welfare Payment Infrastructure Transformation and the Residential Aged Care Funding Reform. These projects have now come to an end.
"This means up to 1,000 ICT contractors are ceasing over the next few weeks. All impacted contracts will end in line with the relevant terms and notice periods."
Canberra has been experiencing an ICT brain drain of its own, with a government report revealing it was over-reliant on Canberra's labour market to fill increasingly difficult to fill technology-skilled positions.
The APSJobs site has more than 131 current listings for ICT workers in the ACT. Most listings have an open-ended number of positions they can recruit, if suitable applicants are available.
Mr Shorten's office has been contacted for comment.
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Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
