Department of Human Services has been without CFO for over a year

The Department of Human Services (formerly Centrelink) has been operating without a Chief Financial Officer for almost 18 months and dozens of other senior executive positions have also been vacant for long periods of time.

The positions are worth a cumulative $400,000 and include two second-tier management positions that are yet to be permanently filled, as well as another 16 executive level jobs, a department spokeswoman confirmed to Fairfax Media.

Adding to the department’s woes, associate manager Ben Rimmer left last month after completing a Harvard University training course that took $10,000 out of the public purse.

Labor's human services spokesman, Senator Doug Cameron, told Fairfax he's concerned about what this could mean for client outcomes.

"Not filling key positions is detrimental to service delivery, sound policy development and is further evidence of the government's ideological obsession to outsource and privatise," he said.

The Department, which will now be overseen by former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, says it is working to fill the positions.

"Arrangements for some of these positions are currently being considered, and several positions will be filled or advertised shortly," the spokeswoman said.