The Coalition has reversed its promise to force public service employees back to offices full-time if it wins the upcoming election.
The decision comes as the Coalition is mid-campaign for the Federal Election, which will be held 3 May.
Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume initially put forward the policy to end work from home (WFH) arrangements for the public sector last month.
However, on Monday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton admitted the initial policy was “a mistake”.
Public servants
Abut 365,400 people work for a federal government agency, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This includes the departments of finance, health, and defence force personnel.
The most recent Australian Public Service (APS) survey showed 61% of public servants worked away from the office at least “some of the time” in 2024.
Under the APS enterprise agreement, which sets out pay and conditions, employees can “request ad-hoc flexible working arrangement(s)”.
Initial pledge
In early March, Hume said a Coalition Government would make it an “expectation” that all APS staff work from the office full-time.
Hume said working in the office full-time would help boost productivity in the public service. In an address to the Menzies Institute, Hume said: “While work from home arrangements can work, in the case of the APS, it has become a right that is creating inefficiency.”
Dutton also said during a press conference: “People refusing to go back to work in Canberra is not acceptable.“
In early March, Dutton was asked how this policy would impact working women specifically.
In response, he insisted there are “plenty of job sharing arrangements” available.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
This refers to two or more people having the same role and splitting working hours between them.
Backlash
Labor was against the Coalition’s policy for public servants.
Over the weekend, Labor published analysis claiming that job-sharing would force women to abandon flexible full-time work and scale back to part-time hours, reducing their salaries by up to $740 a week.
The Community and Public Sector Union also accused Dutton of committing to “rolling back the clock on workers’ rights”.
Reversal
On Monday, the Coalition announced it has backflipped on its plan. This means there will be no changes to flexible work within the public service if it wins the election.
“There will be no mandated minimum number of days for public servants to work in the office,” Senator Hume said in a statement.
Hume accused Labor of running a “scare campaign” against the Coalition on the policy.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Dutton said: “We got it wrong and we have apologised for it”.
“We will make sure that we can help families and that's exactly what our positive plan is about.”
The Coalition has also clarified that it will not force any redundancies across the APS. Instead, the party estimates it will reduce the public service by 41,000 over five years through a hiring freeze and natural attrition — where people who resign or retire aren’t replaced.
