The Abbott government is storming ahead with Australian Public Service reforms - bad news for slackers, absentees and unions.

As part of its bold plans to change, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has also imposed a six-month deadline for it to settle wage disputes for the 160,000-strong bureaucracy.

The PSC’s corporate plan for the next four years says it will push for workplace flexibility, deregulation, red tape cuts, and big changes on hiring, firing and basic employment conditions.

It is sign that commissioner John Lloyd has not given up on his plan to make profound and long-lasting changes to the way the Commonwealth is run.

Contestability and streamlining will become buzz words in the effort to produce employment deals “more in line with community standards” the PSC says.

“Increasingly, we are expected to seek out opportunities to improve productivity and efficiency and to reduce regulation,” the corporate plan states.

“We have the chance to make genuine and enduring changes to the way the APS operates.”

While many see no end coming for the industrial battles raging at federal department, the Commission says it will wrap it all up by March 2016, giving it a chance to get started on entirely new employment guidelines.

“We will partner with entities to conclude the enterprise agreement round by March 2016,” the plan states.

“We will deliver a contestability review report by November 2015, to support the move to a modern and flexible employment framework that is more in line with community standards.

“Following the recommendations of the review, we will implement the employment reform commencing March 2016, to be completed by March 2017.”

It appears the orchestrators will seek workplace bargaining changes, but there is no mention of any trade union involvement.

“We will introduce a program during late 2016 to enhance the bargaining and workplace relations capability of entity staff,” the document states.

Repeated chuckers of sickies will fall under the reforming lens too.

“We will develop a policy framework to support agencies to reduce unscheduled absence by March 2016,” the document states.

“We will use innovative methods that have been shown to be successful in the private sector to reduce absenteeism.”