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waste Australian Public Service Commission
$7.9M

Deloitte built a public service analytics tool for $12.7 million — three times the budget, zero competition

The Australian Public Service Commission directly hired Deloitte to build a workforce analytics platform — no competitive tender. Budget: $4.8 million. Final cost: $12.7 million — a 165% blowout. The platform analyses public service workforce data. The APS's own people had the data and the expertise. Deloitte got the $12.7 million anyway.

On Their Watch
KG
Katy Gallagher
This happened on Gallagher's watch as Public Service Minister, June 2022–present. APSC reports to the Minister for the Public Service; contract tripled on her watch
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What This Means

$7.9M of Australian taxpayer money was wasted at Australian Public Service Commission. The Australian Public Service Commission directly hired Deloitte to build a workforce analytics platform — no competitive tender. Budget: $4.8 million. Final cost: $12.7 million — a 165% blowout. The platform analyses public service workforce data. The APS's own people had the data and the expertise. Deloitte got the $12.7 million anyway.

Spread across Australia's 10.8 million households, that's roughly $1 per family — enough in total for covering the yearly wages of 105 public servants.

  • The Australian Public Service Commission engaged Deloitte to build a workforce analytics and reporting platform through direct sourcing — bypassing competitive tendering entirely.
  • The project cost ballooned from $4.8 million to $12.7 million, a 165% increase.
  • For a data analytics platform, these costs are significantly above market rates, particularly given the 18-month delivery timeline.
Amount Spent
$12,700,000
Original Estimate
$4,800,000
Waste / Overrun
$7,900,000
Cost Overrun
165%

Analysis

The Australian Public Service Commission engaged Deloitte to build a workforce analytics and reporting platform through direct sourcing — bypassing competitive tendering entirely. The project cost ballooned from $4.8 million to $12.7 million, a 165% increase. For a data analytics platform, these costs are significantly above market rates, particularly given the 18-month delivery timeline. The direct source procurement method means the APSC did not test whether other firms could deliver equivalent capability at lower cost.

Sources

https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/CN3956123
Category: waste
Severity: medium
Agency: Australian Public Service Commission

What Needs to Change

Action Required

Expose the pattern of small agencies paying Big Four rates for commodity data analytics platforms.

Fund the Investigation
Deloitte built a public service analytics tool for $12.7 ...
$2K
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14 Australians have funded this
$13K still needed

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Impact Scorecard

Updated 30 Apr 2026

Tracking the pressure trail — from publication to policy change. Empty boxes show what's left to do.

📄 Finding published Published 2026-04-30
🔗 Shared 67 times
📰 Media coverage
🏛️ MP contacted / responded
Parliamentary question raised
⚖️ Policy change initiated
💰 Estimated annual savings if fixed $8.0M/year if fixed
Complete In progress Not yet
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