From www.themandarin.com.au: The Australia Institute’s briefing paper argues that cuts to the Australian Public Service lead to increased inefficiencies and higher costs for taxpayers while reducing access to essential services.

Research indicates that the reduction of public service jobs results in longer waiting times for services and emphasizes that spending on private consultants often far exceeds the costs of appropriate public sector staffing.

The APS is at a historical low in terms of employee percentage relative to the population, and claims of a bloated bureaucracy are unfounded.