The Coalition’s plan to downsize the government workforce by 41,000 over the next five years will involve reducing numbers through natural attrition, according to the Opposition leader Peter Dutton. This decision was made to avoid redundancies and maintain the size of the Australian Public Service (APS) at around 213,439 roles, as predicted in the latest budget papers. Dutton will not replace roles vacated in critical agencies or frontline staff, but has yet to specify which roles will be considered for non-replacement. Interactive data analysis shows that the majority of APS separations in recent years have been from frontline or essential roles, meaning the Coalition would have to either replace these positions or forego their election promise to downsize the public service.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/07/peter-dutton-coalition-public-service-job-cuts-target