The Federal Government plans to grow the size of the public sector, but has retained its Abbott-era staffing cap. 

Budget 2021-22 relies on federal agencies to deliver programs for health and economic recovery from COVID-19.

Staffing will be boosted at the Health Department (500 new staff), the Home Affairs Department (500), ASIO (280), the Australian Federal Police (290) and the CSIRO (400) in particular.

However, the number of workers at Services Australia - the agency that helped deliver JobSeeker payments to 1.5 million unemployed Australians during COVID-19 - will be reduced by about 800. 

It has been suggested that the cuts will extend the already long wait times for people dealing with the agency. 

The government also announced plans to combine 14 different agencies on a single platform for shared corporate services. Services Australia will develop the technology, called GovERP, at an unknown cost due to “commercial sensitivities”.

The Commonwealth will keep its cap on staffing levels, saying it will be needed as the government “transitions toward the next phase of its workforce-planning approach”.