The Australian Bureau of Statistics has announced plans on March 20 to cut 180 jobs over the next 18 months. Meanwhile GeoScience Australia management have told 150 staff, about 20% of the agency's workforce, that their contracts will not be renewed when they expire in June this year.
The job cuts follow similar announcements in other public service agencies including the immigration department, the Australian Taxation Office, Parliamentary services and the Australian Crime Commission.
On March 22, Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Stephen Jones criticised the cuts: "It is disappointing to see the Commonwealth join the growing parade of employers shedding Australian jobs".
Centrelink is an exception to the general pattern of public sector job cuts. It has been employing more staff to deal with the rising numbers of unemployed.