26540 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

26540 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Which agencies, departments, Crown entities, companies, or other organisations for which the Minister is responsible, if any, have been required to identify or deliver baseline savings or staffing reductions since 27 November 2023, and how much, if anything, has each delivered, broken down by organisation and year, as at 5 June 2026?

Hon Louise Upston: In Budget 2024, I delivered the following baseline savings: • $16.943m per year through a reduction in MSD’s staff numbers • $15.650m per year through reducing spending on contractors and consultants for MSD • $6.070m per year through reducing MSD’s operating funding, such as travel, printing, and cleaning • $1m per year by stopping the Community Innovation Fund • $0.053m per year from operating efficiencies for the Social Workers Registration Board. In addition, I have delivered a range of other savings across Budget 2024, 2025 and 2026 through targeted policy initiatives, invest-to-save initiatives, and other time-limited savings. As part of Budget 26, Cabinet has agreed to a programme of reform aimed at transforming the public service to streamline how it is organised, accelerate digital transformation, strengthen leadership and talent and improve efficiency and productivity. Specific decisions on how these reforms will be achieved by agencies have not yet been made. Ministers have asked Chief Executives to work through what this means for their organisations. The Social Worker Registration Board’s Crown funding was reduced by 6.5% in 2024/25 as part of the Government's wider public sector savings directive. The total cost for the 2024/25 year was $53,000. No other Crown Entities I am responsible for were required to identify or deliver baseline savings or staffing reductions.