Public servants in Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support will start industrial action on Thursday over the Government's pay offer.

They have been told they would be limited to a rise of less than 1 per cent and cuts to their rights and conditions.

After months of toing and froing over the Government's enterprise agreement offers in a number of departments, 15,000 staff in the Department of Human Services will begin low-level action on Thursday.

However the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) warned that could escalate into a major dispute next year if the Government did not improve its offer.

CPSU spokeswoman Nadine Flood said there were a number of ways staff would voice their protest.

"Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support staff will start with low-level action aimed to show they are concerned, such as by providing messages to their clients about their concern with the Government's draconian bargaining position," she said.

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Public servants in Centrelink and Medicare customer service centres would also refuse to wear their corporate uniform.

"We've always said we won't take any industrial action that would affect payments to families and pensioners in the lead-up to Christmas," she said.

"This is starting with low-level action to show concern. It is up to the Government to determine whether it escalates further."

'Consider the wellbeing of our nation'

Employment Minister Eric Abetz, who oversaw the Government's bargaining process, said the country was in "financially constrained times".

"Any increase in payments will either lead to job losses or increase borrowings unless there is a genuine productivity trade-off," he said.

"We went to our own remuneration tribunal saying that for parliamentarians there should be no pay increase because of the financial constraints we are under and they accepted our submission.

"And as a Government what we are asking for is the public service to consider the wellbeing of our nation."

Senator Abetz said he hoped most public servants accepted that times had been "relatively good for them in the past".

"At the moment we are in a recovery phase, where times are tough, and as a result the way it increases cannot be as generous," he said.

"If they assist us in getting the economy back on track, then of course the future will look a lot brighter for all Australians, including the public service."

The CPSU described the minister's bargaining policy as a "train wreck".

"It's a little rich for politicians to preach restraint to Medicare mums on $55,000 a year, when pollies' pay rises have run 41 per cent above inflation over the last decade," Ms Flood said.

"The key issue here is in fact not pay - it is the attack on the conditions and rights of these workers and that's the one issue the minister doesn't want to say a word about, because he can't justify it."

Staff in Abetz's department expected to reject pay deal

Staff in the Department of Veterans' Affairs are also expected to take industrial action soon and public servants in the minister's own department will be the first to vote on the deal offered to them.

Ms Flood said union members have said they would reject it.

"We've polled staff and that says that 96 per cent will vote no," she said.

"Given that Mr Abetz has carriage of workplace bargaining across the entire public service, a strong rejection of this still by his own staff will certainly be seen as an embarrassment.

"We're being told that even in the employment department, there is deep discomfort by management at having to offer such a nasty deal to these staff and they expect it to be rejected."

Senator Abetz is showing no sign of willingness to loosen the purse strings.

"Is it easy times? No it's not," he said.

"We're calling for restraint, we have led by example.

"Other organisations around the country are accepting that times are tough, carving our enterprise agreements based on job preservation, and that is something I think most Australians would like to see."

Ms Flood said the union expected a number of agencies and departments with staff would reach the point of voting on industrial action early next year.

"Unless the Government and the Minister has an epiphany and actually decides that they are prepared to talk about a more sensible approach," she said.