Home Affairs to receive budget boost

The agency has been rocked by scandal in the past year, including the sacking of long-serving boss Mike Pezzullo, and intense scrutiny over its response to the High Court's ruling against indefinite immigration detention.

Inside the department, poor morale and claims of bullying and harassment have festered, with Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil eagerly promoting a cultural reset under secretary Stephanie Foster earlier this year.

While the government has kept details of the budget package under wraps, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher likened it to the $127 million funding lifeline thrown to the Agriculture Department in the May 2023 budget.

"[We're] cleaning up the mess of the former government and we've seen it when we had the Department of Agriculture, that was essentially going to go bankrupt," Senator Gallagher said on Sunday.

"We've been doing a similar piece of work in Home Affairs, working through what is the adequate resourcing for that department."

Immigration will receive more attention, Senator Gallagher said, referring to "huge backlogs" of work in this area.

Former public servants say immigration functions have suffered since the Immigration Department was absorbed to create Home Affairs in 2017, but the federal government has not responded to calls to disband the mega agency.

Former Immigration Department deputy secretary Peter Hughes said Australia's immigration function had been "very badly degraded" under Coalition governments since 2014.

Mr Hughes, who is now a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development, called for a funding boost "across the board" to help the government implement its new migration strategy, redevelop "badly ageing" IT systems, reduce application backlogs and speed up "unacceptable" processing times.

"I think the department just now needs the resources necessary to actually do the job in full," he said.

But Mr Hughes said the government will still have to "face up" to a Machinery of Government change to put immigration in the best spot possible.

"Sooner or later I think the government will have to face up to the fact that Australia's immigration function will not work effectively as a player in a security department," he said.

"So I believe that a free-standing Department of Immigration and Citizenship is required."

Senator Gallagher, who is also the Public Service Minister, has promised further investment in Australian Public Service roles, though this will be a mix of funding for ongoing roles, and new jobs.

It will not be in the order of the 10,000 boost unveiled last year, but there will be "a pretty significant increase".

"There'll be continuation of terminating funding, so jobs that would be otherwise terminating, there'll be new jobs in those new priority areas where you'll see the budget focus on, particularly programs like a Future Made in Australia," she said.

The program, announced last month, will propose incentives to advance the country's manufacturing and clean energy industries.

Services Australia, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Veterans' Affairs are expected to receive funding for staff.

"The Public Service will grow in this budget, it will be a pretty significant increase," the Finance Minister said.

"And it will be a mix of those things - so terminating programs and jobs that would finish, new jobs. and conversion of external labour into permanent public service jobs."