If I go back to 2017-18 and the number of contracts that the department entered into, we're looking at about 1,500 contracts. In comparison, in 2023-24, the volume of contracts has decreased significantly. It's almost by half, so 7,676. I think these numbers reflect and are in line with the direction of the government, if you think about the recent refocusing government spending exercise. All government departments were asked to reduce professional services.
I think this number really demonstrates what we've done within the department to reduce our spending on consulting services. However, as I mentioned, a lot of consulting services are unavoidable given our contracting for security guards at missions abroad.