Senator for the ACT Katy Gallagher has been appointed public service minister.

Senator Gallagher was given the portfolio overseeing the APS, in addition to her appointment as minister for finance and minister for women, this week.

She is one of 10 women to hold cabinet positions in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s new government. She spoke frequently on the recent campaign trail about the ALP’s government audit and consultant cost-cutting plans. 

The new Federal Government has pledged to review the use of consultants and labour hire firms in the public service, after the previous government oversaw a doubling of the expenditure on ‘private’ or external labour. Federal outsourcing is now costing taxpayers in excess of $5 billion a year. 

The ALP said it would scrap its predecessor’s arbitrary staffing cap and reduce the reliance on external contractors by 10 per cent in its first year of government. 

An audit of employment in the public service is expected to be launched soon.