The news of collapsing morale in Immigration comes as thousands of its officials prepare to actively campaign for a change of government in the upcoming federal election. A survey shows 70 per cent of officials have no confidence in Department of Immigration and Border Protection boss Mike Pezzullo. Credit:Andrew Meares The Community and Public Sector Union says thousands of DIBP public servants, including hundreds in its controversial sub-agency Australian Border Force, have now agreed to actively campaign against the Coalition in a pre-election effort to be launched on Thursday at Sydney Airport. The official internal Pulse survey of DIBP, taken in January and February this year by private consultants Nous Group, paints a bleak picture of staff morale in the department, which was merged with Customs in 2014. Only three in 10 workers who responded to the survey reported they had confidence in Mr Pezzullo, Mr Quaedvlieg or their deputies to "guide the department to achieve its vision and mission".

DIBP's preoccupation with secrecy was also criticised internally, with only 20 per cent of departmental staffers believing their top bosses were open and transparent, and only 10 per cent agreeing there was "two-way communication across the department". "Staff refer to the 'command and control' culture within the department, explaining that they are not consulted, rather told what to do," Nous Group's report notes. "Other staff refer to their experience of control as a shift to enforcement and a move away from a people and humanitarian focus." The survey also found a culture of empire building and blame in the expanded department. "Staff note the tendency of some groups to focus on their own goals at the expense of others, impacting on resource and information sharing and the ability to release staff," the report stated.

"Some staff also suggest that parts of the department operate in a 'military-style regime'. "Staff explain that when mistakes are made leaders look for someone to blame and this is role-modelled by senior leaders." A DIBP spokesman said on Wednesday evening that the survey highlighted challenges for the department's leadership, but that an action plan was in place. "The leadership team's challenge is to make sure that our staff have the right support in place so this potential can be fulfilled," the spokesman said. "We have developed an action plan to address these issues as matter of priority, including increasing staff engagement with our senior leaders, improving our award and recognition framework, and ensuring performance is managed consistently across the organisation."

The department's two-year battle over wages and conditions, which has a particularly bitter edge among former Customs officers transferred to Border Force, was also identified as a key driver of internal unhappiness. CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said bitterness over the pay-and-conditions dispute had driven most of the union's members at DIBP to support a campaign targeting marginal Coalition-held seats nationwide and more than 2000 public servants had agreed to actively participate. "We've heard from thousands of Immigration and Border Force workers whose anger and disillusionment with the Abbott and Turnbull governments has grown over two years as they've fought to hold on to their rights, conditions and take-home pay," the union leader said. Loading "These people, some of whom are lifelong Liberal voters, have decided it's not just time to change how they vote but to actively campaign for a change of government."