Thousands of call centre jobs could be brought in-house after the main public sector union secured a win in its campaign to halt multimillion-dollar contracts to private providers.
Public Eye can reveal that an amendment passed at the 50th ALP National Conference in Adelaide on the weekend has committed federal Labor to ensuring that APS call centre operations are "predominantly undertaken by public sector workers".
The change means that the Albanese government could accede to the Community and Public Sector Union's call for the main offender - the Australian Taxation Office - to stop funnelling taxpayer dollars to labour hire companies and instead "invest in public sector jobs".
The union, which has joined the Fair Work Commission case of a labour hire call centre worker who is challenging his pay discrepancy under "same job, same pay" laws, argues that the outsourcing of "core ATO work" contradicts a policy through which agencies are supposed to be bringing outsourced work back into the public service.
A CPSU analysis of AusTender data estimates that labour hire companies hold contracts worth more than $630 million.
"Labor is committed to putting the delivery of government services back in the hands of the Australian Public Service," the amended section of the 2026 ALP National Platform says.
"We recognise the value that Australians place on human interaction in the delivery of government services, particularly face-to-face contact.
"Labor recognises that call centres and contact centres also deliver critical frontline services to Australians."
The platform says that a Labor government will "continue to enhance government services and identify how to improve the customer experience across platforms" and "engage with users of government services in designing these improvements".
There was plenty more on the APS - including its growing use of artificial intelligence - in the new Labor national platform, which delegates vote on every three years. We will bring you more details this week after poring over all the amendments.
Outsourced ATO call centre workers say they are paid up to 40 per cent less than their public service counterparts on the same phone lines, with team leaders employed under labour hire arrangements paid about $31 an hour, compared with more than $52 at the ATO.
But the labour hire companies argue they are providing a service and that it would not be fair or reasonable for them to be ordered to pay workers the same as APS employees.
CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly says outsourced call centre workers are doing "ATO work [that] should be done by ATO employees".
"Right now, millions of Australians are doing their taxes," Ms Donnelly said.
"They need to know they are talking to fully trained and trusted public sector employees not outsourced workers being underpaid by profit-driven firms.
"The ATO needs to stop outsourcing this core responsibility, and the government should direct them to do just that."
Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson says public servants need to get over their fear of not being seen as impartial.
The straight-talking economist and first-ever female leader of the Treasury said there will always be people prepared to interpret policy advice as advocacy.
She was speaking at an ACT Institute of Public Administration Australia event last week.
"When the public service explains the evidence base for a reform, whether in speeches or at Senate estimates, there will be people who interpret that as advocacy, and the uncomfortable truth is that they're not entirely wrong," Ms Wilkinson told the room full of public servants and secretaries.
"If you present evidence that clearly supports a particular policy direction, and you do so in a context where that direction is being contested, you're not a neutral actor.
But the answer is not to fall silent, the Treasury boss said.
"That would be a dereliction of our responsibility in working for the government of the day.
"It would serve no one well - not the government, not the public, not the quality of policy debate.
"The answer, I think, is for us to be clear about what the evidence shows."
Ms Wilkinson spoke amid ongoing scrutiny of the Albanese government's changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing.
The Treasury secretary is understood to be rated highly by ministers, partly because of her ability to match up a policy mindset with an understanding of political priorities.
"We need to think carefully about what sort of analysis will be most influential in the public debate and most impactful when the government ultimately is making the case for the reforms that they wish to pursue," she said on Thursday.
As is customary, a roll call of senior public servants traipsed out to Braddon to sit in the front row for the event.
Public Eye spotted Steven Kennedy, Rob Heferen, Blair Comley, Katherine Jones, Tony Cook, Chris Birrer and David Gruen (who also happens to be Ms Wilkinson's husband).
You may have heard that you might hear a ping on your mobile phone today.
What's that?
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that for about 10 seconds at 2pm (AEST) on Monday, a siren will sound from compatible mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches across the country.
A pop-up notification will appear on screens, depending on the model, and read: "TEST MESSAGE" and "NO ACTION IS REQUIRED".
The testing is to make sure that AusAlert, the national emergency warning system created in response to the 2020 royal commission into the national natural disaster arrangements, is in good working order - and taxpayers have spent a hefty sum making sure everyone is ready.
$6.8 million, to be exact, according to a tender published by the National Emergency Management Agency.
A NEMA spokesperson said the funding included the test itself, along with a national public awareness campaign with paid advertising across media channels including television, radio, digital, social media, search and print.
"Market research clearly showed the need to build trust and awareness is the new alert system before it was tested nationally and used in real emergencies," the spokesperson said.
The agency worked with family violence experts on the need to raise awareness of the test among those who relied on hidden "safe phones," who have been urged to switch these devices off or keep them on aeroplane mode for the test.
