It could be months before wage talks begin for 20,000 civilian employees from the Department of Defence, which is paying for a string of celebrity speakers in the meantime.

A draft offer leaked to the media last month, which angered many of the non-enlisted Defence staff.

It showed an internal committee would agree to a pay offer worth just 0.9 per cent a year, a figure less than one-third of the inflation rate.

Defence has ordered an inquiry into how the document was leaked, but department heads say the offer is not their final position.

Despite their concern over the document, the department will not be “rushing ahead” to the negotiating table, according to deputy secretary Rebecca Skinner.

Given that new Coalition government rules forbid back payment of public sector wage deals, and many agreements expired on June 30, workers are losing money with every day of the delay.

In a message sent to the thousands of civilian Defence workers, Ms Skinner said Defence had not even brought an offer to Public Service Minister Eric Abetz, which he would have to sign-off on as a requirement of the government’s new bargaining framework.
There are layers of approval before the offer reaches those it will affect, she wrote.

“Defence will then seek ministerial sign-off on the bargaining position and then cost approval by the Australian Public Service Commission,” Ms Skinner wrote.

“Defence will proceed to issue the notice of employee representational rights.

“Bargaining will commence soon after.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Defence has been criticised for the amounts it spend on high-profile public speakers to talk to its top brass.

Among the addresses in the last year, Defence paid: 11,556 to have Ita Buttrose, the 2013 Australian of the Year, speak about gender diversity; $27,500 for rugby union player John Eales and author of Mao's Last Dancer, ballet dancer Li Cunxin for a few hours work each; and $10,800 for “innovation architect” Nils Vesk to MC the 2014 Finance Congress.

David Smith, ACT director of industry trade union Professionals Australia, said that while all speakers were exceptional people with interesting stories to tell, none appeared to have direct Defence backgrounds.