**The claim is factually accurate.** In September 2013, the Abbott Government restructured the public service by moving Indigenous affairs from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) [1].
When approximately 260 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bureaucrats were transferred from FaHCSIA to PM&C, they retained their old FaHCSIA salary classifications rather than being paid at PM&C rates [2].
The pay disparity was significant:
- Mid-level APS6 former FaHCSIA officials earned approximately $12,000 less than their PM&C counterparts [3]
- Junior to middle management (Executive Level 1) faced pay gaps up to $19,000 per year [3]
- Only junior-level employees had roughly equivalent wages [3]
PM&C was one of the public service's best-paid departments.
**Administrative restructure vs. active policy discrimination:** The pay gap resulted from a public service restructure that moved an entire division between departments with different enterprise agreements.
This was not a targeted policy to underpay Indigenous employees, but rather a structural outcome of retaining existing employment conditions during a departmental merger [6].
**The Coalition's broader commitment:** The article itself notes this occurred while Tony Abbott was speaking about "closing the gap" in Indigenous disadvantage.
The government had taken the significant step of bringing Indigenous policy under the Prime Minister's direct control—a move intended to elevate its priority [7].
**Enterprise bargaining timeline:** The department indicated wage parity would be addressed through the normal enterprise bargaining cycle, not indefinitely maintained [5].
**Non-Indigenous employees also affected:** The SMH article notes that 854 non-Indigenous FaHCSIA employees transferred to PM&C also retained their old salaries rather than receiving PM&C pay rates [8].
The wage disparity affected all transferred employees, not just Indigenous staff.
**Context of 2013 budget cuts:** Secretary Ian Watt announced at the same time that PM&C "could not afford to maintain its present staffing levels and that job losses were inevitable" [5], indicating broader public service cost-cutting measures were underway.
The article is a legitimate news report, not an opinion piece, and includes:
- Direct departmental responses
- Specific wage differential figures
- Context about the broader restructure
- Information about both Indigenous and non-Indigenous affected employees
**Did Labor do something similar?**
Search conducted: "Labor government Indigenous employment public service pay wages"
**Finding:** The Labor Government (2007-2013) created the Closing the Gap framework in 2008 under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, committing to targets for Indigenous health, education, and employment outcomes [9].
The structural pay disparity between these departments existed under Labor's administration but became visible only when Abbott transferred Indigenous affairs staff to PM&C in 2013 [10].
Both governments maintained the status quo of different enterprise agreements across departments.
**Scale comparison:** This was a specific restructure affecting ~260 Indigenous employees and 854 non-Indigenous employees.
**The criticism is valid but incomplete.** The Abbott Government did preside over a situation where transferred Indigenous employees earned less than PM&C colleagues for equivalent work.
This is genuinely problematic for a government claiming commitment to "closing the gap."
**However, important context includes:**
1. **Structural not targeted:** The disparity resulted from retaining existing employment classifications during a departmental transfer—a standard public service practice.
All 1,100+ transferred employees (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) faced this issue [8].
2. **Departmental merger rationale:** Bringing Indigenous affairs into PM&C was intended to elevate its priority and give the Prime Minister direct oversight.
This was a structural change designed to improve Indigenous policy outcomes, not hinder them [7].
3. **Public service wage framework:** Australian Public Service wages are determined by enterprise bargaining at the agency level.
Different departments have had different pay scales for decades under both Labor and Coalition governments [11].
4. **Timing and process:** The issue emerged in February 2014, only months after the September 2013 restructure.
The department stated the matter would be addressed through enterprise bargaining—a normal timeline for such adjustments [5].
5. **Not unique to this government:** The underlying structural issue—different enterprise agreements across departments with wage disparities—existed before the Coalition and persists today under agency-level bargaining [11].
**Key context:** This situation exposes a systemic public service wage disparity issue that affects transferred employees regardless of government.
While particularly ironic given the "closing the gap" rhetoric, the structural cause (departmental enterprise agreement differences) predated and outlasted the Abbott Government.
The core facts are accurate: Indigenous employees transferred to PM&C in 2013-2014 did earn substantially less than their PM&C colleagues for equivalent work.
However, the claim omits that: (a) non-Indigenous transferred employees faced the same pay disparity, (b) this resulted from standard public service restructure practices preserving existing employment conditions, not a targeted Indigenous pay policy, and (c) the structural wage disparities between departments existed under Labor and were not created by the Coalition.
The core facts are accurate: Indigenous employees transferred to PM&C in 2013-2014 did earn substantially less than their PM&C colleagues for equivalent work.
However, the claim omits that: (a) non-Indigenous transferred employees faced the same pay disparity, (b) this resulted from standard public service restructure practices preserving existing employment conditions, not a targeted Indigenous pay policy, and (c) the structural wage disparities between departments existed under Labor and were not created by the Coalition.