Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

The Government provisioned an additional 1,332 civilian personnel (in Defence and the Defence Materiel Organisation, including Australian Public Service staff and contractors) for 2010-11 under the White Paper, as reflected in the publication The Strategic Reform Program: Making It Happen.

When staff savings resulting from the Strategic Reform Program (SRP) are accounted for, the net White Paper/SRP total reflected in The Strategic Reform Program: Making It Happen reduces to 1,187. Increases in the targets for efficiency savings since publication mean that the net White Paper/SRP civilian staffing total for 2010-11 was 938 as at 30 March 2011.

The workforce data detailed in The Strategic Reform Program: Making It Happen are based on approved allocations at the time of publication and reflect full-time equivalent average numbers. Using the full-time equivalent (FTE) approach, Defence counts full-time and part-time service as one overall quantity.

This workforce has been allocated across all Defence Groups to implement a range of White Paper initiatives including the Defence Capability Plan.

These Australian Public Service personnel ranged from junior to senior officers on an as needed basis according to the particular White Paper initiatives being actioned.

Because of the breadth and depth of the White Paper initiatives, the number of personnel varied throughout the specified period and it is not possible to provide a specific total referenced to each White Paper initiative.

In relation to the overall civilian workforce, over the period 01 July to 31 December 2010, Defence employed an average of 21,029 full-time equivalent civilian personnel, of whom 653 were contractors. This comprises Defence 15,564 and the Defence Materiel Organisation 5,465. It should be noted that 21,029 is 2,020 less than the projected allocation of 23,049 for 2010-11 as shown in the The Strategic Reform Program: Making It Happen publication.