The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their attitudes towards the Federal Government’s use of external consultants.

The results show that:

• Four in five Australians (79%) agree that the public service should have the skills and capacity to do work currently outsourced to consultants.
• Three in four Australians (72%) think the $1 billion spent by the Federal Government on external consultancies last year was too much and most (64%) think it would be better spent on hiring and training in-house public servants.
• An overwhelming majority (85%) agree that consultants should be required to answer questions about work commissioned by the government when called upon in parliamentary and other inquiries (6% disagree).
• Four in five Australians (80%) agree that consulting firms that leak confidential government information should be banned from consulting for the government (10% disagree).