The use of labour hire staff in the Department of Human Services has extended to Medicare, adding to contractors already employed in Centrelink call centres and even front of house roles.

A department spokeswoman confirmed "a very small number" of labour hire workers would be starting in Hobart. Fairfax Media understands that number to be at least 12.

Labour hire staff will soon be working on Medicare. Credit:Fairfax Media

The work involved isn't customer-facing work, the spokeswoman said, but "simple back of house administrative roles".

"Moving this administrative work to labour hire staff will allow us to better utilise our service delivery people with more specialised skills, giving them time to focus on supporting customers and more complex work," the spokeswoman said.