Targets and reporting

Targets

Targets are set annually for the financial year ahead, allowing agencies to adjust to any changes in their operating environment or core work.

Targets capture an agency’s projected reductions in outsourcing of core work. See APSC SCF 2024 public update and 2025 public update for details.

When setting targets agencies should:

• consider the agency’s core work
• look at any current outsourcing of core work
• consider the approach to bringing core work in house and how quickly that can be achieved
• consider labour market realities to ensure targets are impactful but realistic.

Targets will specify:

• the relevant job family (for instance Accounting and Finance, Administration, Compliance and Regulation, Human Resources, ICT and Digital Solutions, Legal and Parliamentary, Monitoring and Audit, Policy, Portfolio Program and Project Management, or Trades and Labour)
• the type of work you plan to bring back in house in the coming financial year (can be a description of key tasks, functions or job roles)
• why you are prioritising this change (e.g. avoiding conflict of interest risk/securing a priority capability)
• expected reductions in supplier expenditure ($ GST excl) broken down by type of external labour (labour hire, contractor, consultant, outsourced service provider). Please also provide corresponding reduction in external positions (as FTE) if possible. Agencies have discretion in how they calculate the estimated reduction in supplier expenditure. See guidance on Maintaining records below.

Agencies can set one target or many, depending on the core work they intend to prioritise and bring in house in the coming financial year – whatever makes sense for your agency. Agencies are not expected to stop all outsourcing of core work in a single year. Targets can bring a proportion of a particular type of core work in house each year.

It is up to agencies how they go about building their in-house capability and bringing core work in-house. There are a range of steps agencies can take as outsourcing is reduced, for example:

• Reprioritising work to redeploy existing staff, including reskilling
• Recruiting
• Accessing specialist expertise across the commonwealth such as:
  • the Australian Government Consulting Service
  • CSIRO
• Reviewing workforce planning so that the peaks and troughs can be better managed and longer term capability requirements can be addressed.

Agencies should be ambitious in their aspiration but realistic about what can be achieved in a 12 month period. We recognise that change will take time and agencies must continue to deliver against their priorities. Prioritisation will be important, to rebalance your workforce while continuing to deliver.

Considerations for setting targets

When setting targets agencies should consider the following.

A material and tangible impact is required

There is a strong expectation that agencies will reduce their spending on external labour. Targets must be meaningful, going beyond low-hanging fruit in order to drive momentum and achieve the framework’s intent.

Value is broader than dollars

Agencies must deliver measurable reductions in spending on external labour, consistent with the Government’s expectation that core work will be delivered efficiently and effectively by APS employees.

In prioritising the work that must be brought in house first, agencies should consider both the dollar value of targets and their strategic value, based on:

• integrity and managing risk/conflict of interest
• capability gaps/the need to break reliance on outsourcing of particular skills
• legislated responsibilities, enduring functions, expected focus of future work
• stability and business continuity.

Agencies must own and drive the change

Targets are deliberately devolved to agencies, to ensure targets are fit for purpose and based on agency-specific knowledge of:

• the core work that should not be outsourced
• how quickly change can happen without creating delivery risks or impacting agency obligations under the PGPA Act 2013
• the changes that will deliver the highest material impact in the coming financial year, based on a strong and defensible rationale.

Reporting

In 2025, agencies were asked to report directly to the APSC on their targets and progress against them and report publicly in corporate plans and annual reports.

Corporate plans

Agencies were asked to summarise their Strategic Commissioning Framework targets for the financial year ahead. The APSC suggested this should be in the Capability section of the corporate plan.

For 2025-26, agencies were asked to include a short paragraph that included:

• the agency’s approach to implementing the Strategic Commissioning Framework
• the expected areas of focus for the applicable financial year’s targets (for instance focus job families)

Total target dollar value was encouraged but was not required in 2025-26 corporate plans. This recognised that agencies were required to publish their corporate plan by 31 August 2025 before targets needed to be settled for APSC reporting.

Example corporate plan content:

In 2025-26, AGENCY A will continue working to bring core work in-house in line with the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework. We expect our targets for 2025-26 to focus on reduced outsourcing of JOB FAMILY A and JOB FAMILY B work.

Annual reports

Agencies were asked to summarise progress against their 2024-25 targets in their 2024-25 annual report. The APSC suggested this information should be reported within the management and accountability section of the annual report.

Agencies were asked to include a short paragraph that included:

• the agency’s overall target for 2024-25 as a dollar value (GST excl)
• the extent to which the overall target was achieved, including the actual reduction in supplier expenditure (GST excl).

Example annual report content:

In 2024-25 AGENCY A took steps to bring core work in-house in line with the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework. Our targets for 2024-25 aimed to bring $XX (GST excl) of core work in-house in JOB FAMILY A and JOB FAMILY B. This target was achieved/substantially achieved/partially achieved, with an actual reduction of $XXXX (GST excl) in relevant supplier expenditure in 2024-25.

Agencies not setting a target

Some agencies advised they did not need to set a target because they outsource little or no core work and already operate in line with the framework. Agencies in this category were asked to note this in their corporate plan and annual report.

Example content for corporate plans and annual reports was provided:

AGENCY A operates in line with the Strategic Commissioning Framework. Core work is done in-house in most cases, and any outsourcing of core work is minimal and aligns with the limited circumstances permitted under the framework.

Direct reporting to the APSC is summarised in the 2025 public update.

Reporting requirements for 2026 will be advised in due course.

Maintaining records

New outsourcing of core work

If agencies undertake new procurement for core work for reasons not covered by the framework’s limited circumstances they must:

• keep a written record of the procurement which explains the type of work, job family, why it had to be outsourced and the dollar value
• document the steps they will take to bring the core work back in house in a reasonable timeframe.

Documenting your target methodology

It is important to document the methodology and process your agency used to estimate reductions in supplier expenditure for your targets, including assumptions and relevant contracts, in order to replicate the approach when it comes time to assessing actual reductions at end of financial year. This will depend on current outsourcing arrangements and the changes the agency intends to make. 

Timeline

Key dates for 2025 reporting are below.

• August 2025: Agencies reported on the framework in corporate plans
• August-September 2025: agencies reported directly to the APSC
• October 2025: Agencies report on the framework in annual reports
• End of 2025: APSC briefed the Minister and published a public update

The initial implementation period for the Strategic Commissioning Framework runs from 2024-25 to 2026-27.