How do bean counters at the NBN get through the daily grind? With the help of $437,000 worth of taxpayer-funded coffee.

NBN Co has revealed it spent $210,000 of public money buying high-end espresso machines for its office staff - at an average cost of roughly $5000 for each piece of equipment. It has also spent $145,000 on coffee and $82,000 on machine maintenance.

The company in charge of building Australia's high-speed broadband network, which has 5000 staff, also appears to be spending more on coffee than all other major government departments and agencies, which have a combined total of about 155,000 staff.

Most major departments - including Treasury, Finance, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Environment - say they do not buy coffee machines or coffee for staff. Of those that do, the total spending adds up to about $129,000 in recent years - although some major departments such as Defence do not provide figures.