Services Australia awarded $620k contract to speechwriter for Shorten

The agency initially awarded the contract to Julianne Stewart in September 2022, at a value of $310,249.50 for a year of work, for "temporary personnel services".

The AusTender contract notice shows this was extended until the end of September 2024, with the value revised to $620,499.

The agency has paid $477,516 to date, and the total value of the contract will cover superannuation and other entitlements such as holidays.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds raised the "interesting tender" in Senate estimates on Monday morning, asking agency officials if the contract was "for a speechwriter for Bill Shorten".

Deputy chief executive Susie Smith confirmed this was the case.

On Monday morning, Ms Smith told the senator she would take questions about the contract on notice: "Senator, I would prefer not to speculate, I just have the details of the contract, I don't have the details as to why the contract may have been amended or varied."

Asked about why the minister required "a full-time very expensive speechwriter in addition to his own staff", Ms Smith said that would be "a question for him".

The deputy chief executive also revealed the agency employs 189 full-time equivalent staff in their communications unit, and that they do "from time to time ... assist with providing material for the [minister's] office".

"But I must say that the office drafts the majority of the material themselves".

Chief executive David Hazlehurst added: "Those communications staff are involved in all communications activity associated with the agency, not just supporting the minister."

Later in the day, Ms Smith provided further details of Ms Stewart's role, including that she is involved in training staff within the agency to build capability.

She said the agency had experienced a "greater need for ministerial and senior executive messages" post-COVID, and had "a gap" to fill after one of the agency's speechwriters retired.

"Speechwriting, as you'll appreciate, is a specialist skill set and accomplished speechwriters remained difficult to source, that's not unusual in some the specialist domains of the communication division," Ms Smith told senators.

"Ms Stewart would not be the only contractor that we have in order to be able to attract that high calibre specialised skill set."

Ms Stewart was contracted after an external recruitment drive in July 2022 failed to find any suitable candidates, Ms Smith said.

"Part of the duties that Ms Stewart has in working with the communications division is also now building out a training package and ensuring that we can build that speechwriting capability from within that will reduce our reliance on external contractors in the future," she said.

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Mr Shorten had 13 staff - across a range of roles - in his office as at May 1, 2024, according to data tabled by Finance during estimates.

Mr Shorten's office did not comment when asked about the contract, but referred the issue back to the agency.