Services Australia to shed up to 2000 ICT contractors by mid-2023

Services Australia is set to cut between 1600 and 2000 ICT contractors from its ranks before the end of the fiscal year, up to double the number previously disclosed.

Multiple sources have now confirmed this range to iTnews.

iTnews understands that the first 300 were given notice on November 18 with a further 700 notified on November 25. They will cease working for Services Australia on December 2.

However, more reductions are also on the cards: it is understood that at least 400 more ICT contractors face termination in January 2023, followed by another cohort of between 200 and 400.

A spokesperson for the agency did not respond directly to detailed questions from iTnews on the quantum and cadence of the planned cuts, and would not confirm or deny anything beyond the already-disclosed reduction of 1000 contractors.

“We stand by our original statement,” the spokesperson said.

The agency’s general manager Hank Jongen said in the earlier statement to iTnews that impacted contractors had been working on expired big ticket projects such as the welfare payment infrastructure transformation (WPIT).

But it appears not all of the reductions relate to these big ticket programs.

It is understood that some of the contractor resources are being pulled from myGov, for example, the digital entry portal for a number of online government services.

One source said that ICT branches not involved in big ticket projects had lost - or stood to lose - up to 50 contractors each.

“These branches will have to continue to deliver for the public with significantly less people,” the source said.

iTnews has received conflicting accounts of the root cause of the cuts.

Explanations so far are that they form part of a broader government-led program to reduce contractor numbers across major agencies, and alternatively that they were initiated owing to a substantial overspend on IT resourcing that was not rectified in the October federal budget.