A new report has slammed the overuse of consultants by the previous Liberal National Government.

The final report of the NSW Legislative Council’s Public Accountability and Works Committee examining the use and management of external management consultants has recently been published, drawing heavily on the PSA’s submission to the inquiry.

In August 2023, General Secretary Stewart Little and Research Officer Andy Asquith appeared before the Public Accountability and Works Committee to give evidence to support the PSA’s submission and to answer questions arising from the submission.

The two key underlying points from the report are the importance and virtues of public service. There is a clear and unambiguous recognition that the work PSA members do is both valuable and incredibly important to everyone in NSW. The report notes that:

“The PSA argued that, unlike the public sector, short-term private sector ‘solutions’ were not necessarily committed to solving issues long-term,” said Mr Little. “It critiqued the outsourcing of public service business, declaring that those services were now being provided by individuals and organisations motivated by profit, and not the ‘noble’ motivation of public service.”

Both the PSA submission and the oral evidence stressed a number of key factors which were accepted by the Committee. Together with the evidence from other public sector trade unions, and the NSW Auditor General, the union presented a compelling case which demonstrated the years of wasted public money and deterioration of public services under the NSW Coalition from 2011 to 2023.

Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, under the previous Liberal-led Coalition Government the annual reports of NSW government agencies disclosed approximately $1 billion of spending with more than 1000 consulting firms across more than 10,000 engagements. It is estimated that the total spend between 2011-22 was $2.6 billion.

“How many public service jobs would these huge sums have created?” said Mr Little. “Another point we argued, which was accepted in the final report, is the fact that external management consultants should only be used as a means of last resort – when both internal capacity of the public service and capacity within the tertiary sector can not provide the expertise needed.

“To counter the need to seek external advice, a key recommendation was the creation of an internal NSW public service consultancy unit – similar to that being created by the Commonwealth Government.

“Alongside this, the report recognises a point stressed by the PSA – that it is critically important that decisions are based firmly on rigorous evidence, not the ideological whims of a minister – irrespective of which political party they are from.

“Overall, the report represents vindication and validation of the work members do on a daily basis and the work the PSA does on their behalf.

“Long may this last.”