Federal Government savings of $248 million have been made at the cost of 800 jobs in the public sector.

The ACT Treasurer has called the move “unfair”, saying Canberra should not be the first port of call for a government looking to trim its spending.

Agencies have reportedly been forced to make a one per cent saving on their senior management budget; it has meant 800 jobs will go from the executive branch. Insiders say the ACT is bearing the cost of the Federal decision to move to an Emissions Trading Scheme a year earlier than planned.

Public Sector Workers’ Unions say departments cannot be expected to carry out the same amount of work with fewer people.

The Treasurer says it is a good time to cut down the slightly over-inflated sector. Chris Bowen says about 800 of the current 44,500 executive level and senior executive service positions will be cut: "In context, these positions have grown by about 29 per cent over a period when the general public service has grown by about 6 per cent."

Community Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood says the cuts will include 400 jobs put on the chopping block in May: “We're disappointed to see a further 400 executive jobs go today on top of the 400 that went in the May budget... but it pales into insignificance when we look at what Tony Abbott and the Coalition are proposing. They're talking about cutting 12,000 jobs just for starters."