Middle managers at the Australian Taxation Office will achieve better work-life balance with the help of thousands of iPhone and iPads, according to the agency.
The cash-strapped taxation office, which is in the process of slashing 3000 jobs, will begin the roll-out of the Apple devices to its level 1 and 2 executives in the coming weeks with the public servants expected to be fully equipped by mid-2015.
Second Commissioner of Taxation Geoff Leeper told the ATO's 20,000 workers on Friday that the project was in response to a need for mobile technology among the office's managers.
Telecom giant Optus will supply the devices and although it is still unclear how much the project will cost, Mr Leeper said the iPad and iPhones would help the tax office be a "future oriented organisation".
An ATO spokeswoman said on Monday she could not supply a figure on how much it would cost to supply the devices to up to 5500 middle managers but the price would be paid from the agency's existing budget.
She said the move was in keeping with the goal of providing more flexible work practices for the ATO's leaders.
"One of our key priorities is to improve access to mobile technology to allow more flexible working arrangements for our executive level leaders," she said.
"After careful consideration, the ATO executive has decided to provide every ATO EL2 and EL1 with either an iPad or iPhone for work purposes.
"This initiative signals our commitment to improving the staff experience in the ATO and becoming a contemporary and future-oriented organisation.
"We hope that everyone, at all levels, will see the benefits of having a more mobile and connected leadership group.
"Staff will be given the option on whether they receive a device."
The spokeswoman said the phones and tablets would be bought through the government's tender procedures.
"We are procuring the devices using whole of government processes and through Optus, the ATO's contracted managed network services provider," she said.
"Costs are being managed within our existing budget and include the device cost, licensing costs and infrastructure costs to support the rollout."
But unions are not happy, with the Australian Services Union warning that a work-supplied Apple device would be small consolation for EL1 and EL2 public servants facing the loss of key conditions in the current enterprise bargaining round.
"This is a sugar coating distraction from the cuts the ATO intends to their conditions of employment," union official Jeff Lapidos said.
"The ATO wants to force EL1s to work regular unpaid overtime and also wants to reduce promotion opportunities and increase responsibilities for EL2.1s by removing the current EL2.2 level, which is worth another $7000 per annum to those employees."
