Short-term contracts normally align with the financial year, with potentially thousands now due to end or be up for renewal at the end of June. However, the pandemic and economic crisis has dramatically altered the business of government, and of decision-making, putting the future of these temporary public servants under a cloud.

Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad said the State Government would need to issue directives to clarify the issue but expected departments to first re-schedule and re-prioritise projects and programs. Even the State Budget is delayed indefinitely.

Trad told InQueensland her personal view, yet to be discussed with Cabinet colleagues, was that contracts would only be extended in circumstances where projects and programs had been interrupted through no fault of the worker.

“If the purpose still exists, or the purpose is still required, it is something that needs to resume,” Trad said.

But not “if, in the natural course of business, that project or program is coming to an end.”

Together union secretary Alex Scott, who represents public servants, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Queensland Public Service Commission does not collect data on contract end dates and was not in a position to estimate the number of people affected.

“As would be expected, there are likely to be a mix of scenarios relating to short-term contracts within the public service post 30 June,” the commission’s chief executive, Robert Setter, said in a statement.

“The Queensland public service, like many organisations, uses employees on a temporary and casual basis to work on short-term projects and to cover emerging work that cannot delivered using the permanent workforce – for example supply teachers and nurses. We would expect government departments will continue to manage a mix of permanent and temporary and casual employees to deliver business critical services to Queenslanders.”

After The Courier-Mail campaigned for a public service pay freeze, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk publicly declared it frozen, but without specifically addressing timing or enterprise bargaining obligations. Today, the newspaper reported that the United Voice union – representing thousands of essential workers in health, aged care, education and cleaning – had received a commitment that workers would be paid increases owed to them this financial year.

Asked for clarity, Palaszczuk told reporters the freeze would apply “from financial year to financial year, that’s how a pay freeze operates”.

“Scott Morrison has set a six-month pay freeze, I’m doing a 12-month pay freeze,” the Premier said.

This week, InQueensland revealed the Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Dave Stewart, had been reappointed for three years on an annual package of about $750,000. The Premier’s office said Stewart was subject to the pay freeze like other public servants.

Today, Trad announced JobKeeper payments in Queensland would not be hit with state payroll tax, under a six-month measure backdated to mid-March and likely to cost the budget $360 million in lost revenue.

“I think it certainly gives business that level of flexibility to make a whole host of decisions,” Trad said, suggesting some might be able to hibernate for longer without sacking staff.

Unemployment in Queensland may top 14 per cent, even higher in some regions, according to analysts.

Trad acknowledged that governments were not eligible for JobKeeper – she said Queensland had unsuccessfully pushed for eligibility to be expanded to cover other workers, particularly casuals – and that unemployed public servants would have to apply for Jobseeker payments.

The Palaszczuk Government is finalising a workers’ assistance package partly designed to protect those who fall through the cracks of existing support mechanisms.