After processing just one voluntary redundancy in the first quarter of 2026, the Department of Home Affairs opened the floodgates, processing 679 payouts following a massive exit rush led by Immigration and Border Force staff.
Newly released figures show that more than 1450 public servants across immigration and border enforcement put their hands up to leave.
Public Eye has been quietly waiting for the final numbers following reports about its redundancy program in May 2026.
In total, 1938 staff expressed interest in a redundancy. It meant more than one in 10 employees across the department sought an exit package, based on Home Affairs' 2025 headcount of 16,611.
The Immigration group accounted for 715 applications, driven by 494 in Immigration Programs and 215 in Immigration Compliance, while the Australian Border Force recorded 735 expressions of interest including 358 in Regional Operations.
Corporate back-office teams also had strong interest, with 176 applications in the Chief Operating Officer group and 171 in Technology.
A Home Affairs spokesperson said staff were invited to apply as part of workforce and budget management, and the decision was not tied to any single issue.
"The general sentiment has been understanding and open, but we acknowledge that some staff have been concerned about their job security throughout the process," the spokesperson said, adding that the department continues to maintain direct dialogue with affected staff.
The department confirmed it has no plans to run another voluntary redundancy program in 2026-27.
Spotted walking around the Parliamentary Triangle on Wednesday morning: Bean Labor MP David Smith and ACT Liberal Senate candidate (and opposition health spokesperson Anne Ruston staffer) Nick Tyrrell.
Public Eye's spies spotted the unlikely pair having a chin wag on the 80 Walks in 80 Days fundraiser for MensLink.
The local fundraiser challenges community leaders, politicians, and Canberra locals to complete 80 walks across the territory to raise crucial funds and awareness for young men's mental health.
The initiative culminates in the Great Walk event in November, where Mr Smith and a team of community leaders will embark on a gruelling five-day, 142km trek across Canberra to further support Menslink's vital youth mentoring and counselling programs.
While the stroll was all in the name of a good cause, one can't help but wonder if Mr Smith's recent brainwave to radically overhaul how the ACT is governed came up.
Whether Mr Tyrrell was taking mental notes for the campaign trail or just getting his daily steps in alongside a political rival, it seems even cross-party tensions can sometimes take a back seat for a worthy cause.
The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) continues to push forward with the service-wide enterprise agreement negotiations with the next meeting scheduled for 15 and 17 September 2026.
It will be the 13th and 14th meetings of the enterprise negotiations focusing on key personal issues such as parental leave, relocation assistance and the right to disconnect among others.
The right to disconnect was a hotly contested issue in the build-up to the 2025 election. The Coalition government said the public service would be the sector that would have the right to disconnect repealed.
The bargaining had moved on to the next stage of the process with APSC chief negotiator Alison Stott tabling the Commonwealth's positions on issues where the public service can be a model employer.
Ms Stott said, "Reaching this stage is a significant step forward ... there is still important work ahead."
Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Rebecca Fawcett vowed to continue the fight "to bring public sector jobs in house, by calling on the government to stop lining the pockets of multinational companies."
The round builds on earlier sessions that began on July 21 this year after a survey of more than 39,000 employees, nearly 30 per cent of the workforce.
Ms Stott has been meeting union representatives twice a week for the 110 Australian Public Service (APS) agencies that are part of the process including the two non-APS agencies, the National Gallery of Australia and the Department of Parliamentary Services.
As the APSC taskforce works to build on the 59 common conditions secured during the 2023 bargaining cycle, these discussions aim to find common ground on conditions across the agencies.
As the process moves into the final quarter of the year, balancing union demands such as the Community and Public Sector Union's push for a cumulative 15 per cent wage rise and moving away from contractor reliance and the federal government's budget limitations will require careful navigation.
Public servants looking to reduce their agency's environmental footprint can do so for $1200 a head.
The Finance department has opened enrolments for the final 2026 intake of its Greening Government Microcredentials initiative that was developed in partnership with RMIT University.
The online course titled 'Meeting the Australia Government Climate Targets', is six weeks long from October 12 to November 23.
The course promises to equip participants with practical skills across different areas including procurement, information communications technology, and travel to turn the Net Zero 2030 targets into actionable outputs such as business proposals and fact sheets.
Funding for the course came through the Australian Public Service (APS) Capability Reinvestment Fund. Finance entered into a $335,610 contract with RMIT Online in 2025 to develop and pilot two microcredentials for more than 50 public servants.
The course offers one-on-one expert mentoring, weekly Teams webinars, and at its conclusion, an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Level 3 credential.
Following the pilot's conclusion in August 2025, Finance confirmed RMIT Online assumed full responsibility for delivering the courses and managing enrolments.
A Finance spokesperson said it does not hold ongoing financial liability for course delivery, leaving agencies to decide whether to foot the enrolment fee per staff member out of their own learning and development budgets.
With no prerequisites required, Public Eye wonders how many department heads will reach into their agency coffers to teach staff how to plan greener business trips and lower office emissions.
It is a heartbreak experienced by public servants, choosing between your career in Canberra or your partner wanting to move overseas. It was a question posed by a public servant in the brains trust that is the AusPublicService subreddit.
The Redditor laid out the quandary and said, "I have a permanent job in Australia (public sector) and my boyfriend is in Europe ... he wants to go back home."
"I am crying so hard as he told me he is thinking of going back home and not joining me in Australia ... I feel like I do not want to lose the job security and he is too anxious he might not find a job here."
Torn between her career and her partner, she turned to the forum asking if there was any way to keep her role while joining him abroad.
The career adviser on the subreddit pulled no punches and delivered a heavy dose of public service reality.
One commenter said, "Spoiler alert: ain't no department going to let you work overseas," while others warned against abandoning a permanent government role for an uncertain prospect abroad, especially in a tight economic climate.
However, experienced public servants offered a potential bureaucratic lifeline, leave without pay (LWOP).
"The best you can hope for is that your department lets you take unpaid leave for 12 months, so you can try and find a job while you're over there, and have something to come back to if it doesn't work out," one poster advised.
While Public Eye believes in romance, official APS workforce numbers do not bode well for the couple.
The APS employment database showed that a tiny 0.8 per cent of the APS workforce is registered as working overseas, a constant figure in the past two years.
More than two-thirds of those 1500 workers are in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the rest coming from Home Affairs, Defence and Austrade.
Public Eye wishes the Redditor all the best in navigating this painful crossroads between heart and career.
