The Turnbull-era super domestic security Department of Home Affairs is an operational department, likened to running a small navy or air force. There are now more than 15,000 employees, almost half of whom work for the supercharged customs service, Australian Border Force, and it is also the second largest revenue collector in government, bringing in $22 billion a year.
It is not one workplace culture but several. In its creation, Immigration was watered down, becoming a section rather than a department for the first time since 1945. It is still not a cabinet position in the ministry. Giles is the junior minister to Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.
Now the “boats and borders” portfolio of Home Affairs faces a comprehensive restructure following the termination of departmental head Mike Pezzullo and revelations that it is the most undesirable workplace culture in the public service.
Insiders, not named by The Saturday Paper to allow them to speak freely, say a lot of work has been done but a “really big” rebuild is required. Year after year there have been problems with Home Affairs. They have included visa scams, visa backlogs, Red Notice bungles and a scandalously outdated IT system.
“It’s poorly resourced,” Rizvi tells The Saturday Paper. “It’s trying to manage volumes of cases that are just extraordinary with a staffing level that had, under Pezzullo, shrunk dramatically. Now the current government is trying to restore that, but that’s got a long way to go.”
Rizvi speaks of morale broken by Pezzullo’s authoritarian leadership. “The message was clear. He dressed a lot of people up in very dark uniforms. He introduced guns. And having done all of that, it led to a massive exodus of senior staff from the department.”