How Government engages its contractor workforce support is in need of change. Australian Public Service (APS) vacancies are growing significantly in parallel with growing demand and government departments are spending far too much money and have an unsustainable over-reliance on external resources to deliver government objectives/policy.
Engagement with external resources is through sub optimal contracting methods and is resulting in significant value leakage. Additionally, as a result of the problem manifesting, a false labour market has been created that presents significant strategic workforce risks over the long-term for the APS and industry.
Government needs a long-term solution to attracting and retaining talent and a new way of drawing better value for money from the use of external industry resources to deliver departmental outcomes.
This discussion paper highlights the current challenges, constraints and risks that government agencies face when relying on industry to augment APS staffing positions through sub optimal contracting methods to meet departmental objectives.
Additionally, this paper offers solutions that aim to:
- help with the design and delivery of long-term talent attraction and retention across the APS;
- reduce the cost to government of contractor/contracted labor;
- improve the outcomes achieved for government in support of departmental objectives;
- recognise and limit situations where government agencies create and rely on unsustainable levels and types of contractors;
- attempts to re-balance a labour market that can provide for better workforce planning outcomes for both government and industry; and
- improves value for money for the Commonwealth whilst continuing to allow organisations and individuals to achieve a reasonable profit.
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