The NSW government has a plan to outsource hundreds of jobs to India after the March state election and unions fear thousands more will be vulnerable to outsourcing at a time of rising unemployment.

The Public Service Association is also concerned about the security of sensitive data including Treasury budget papers, cabinet minutes and payroll figures.

The government is negotiating to send up to 240 jobs to India, but a final decision will not be made until April at the earliest, reported .

The government is looking at four possible options, but internal documents suggest preference for a model that involves sending 80 per cent of 300 internal service delivery jobs to India.

Three other models under investigation include one that would involve relocating half the 300 jobs to regional areas and the remaining half, overseas. Another proposes outsourcing 10 per cent of the jobs offshore.

A third of the 300 positions with ServiceFirst to be outsourced are currently based in Parramatta. The remaining ones are located in the Sydney central business district.

ServiceFirst provides human resources, IT, finances and payroll services to several government departments including Treasury, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Office of Finance and Services and the Department of Planning.

Public Service Association of NSW general secretary Anne Gardiner said up to 30,000 of the state’s 400,000 of public servants perform similar corporate services work to that targeted for outsourcing.

“That is the scale of job losses that are at stake if outsourcing proceeds and private companies expand their reach inside the sector,” Ms Gardiner said.

“The 300 jobs in line to be lost in ServiceFirst are just the tip of the iceberg in the plans of this government and the big businesses lining up to outsource and offshore work, reported The Sunday Morning Herald.

“Under the Premier’s watch, unemployment has climbed to a six-year high. Now his government wants to add another 300 of its own employees to the jobless queue.”

Ms Gardiner said that in addition to job losses, she was concerned about outsourcing IT Systems and databases containing Treasury documents and budget papers, ministerial and cabinet minutes and decisions, personnel and payroll data, working with children’s check data and ICAC investigation files.

The NSW government made an in-principle decision to outsource services provided by ServiceFirst in December last year.

A spokesman for the Office of Finance and Services said it had entered into a memorandum of understanding agreement with Unisys Australia Pty Limited and Infosys Limited in December 2014 to outsource ServiceFirst.

“Any changes to the current model will be evidence-based to improve services and deliver better value for money,” the spokesman said.

“No decision has been made to accept offshore services. We are considering a range of options, including one that provides for delivery from a regional location in NSW.

“Consultation with all ServiceFirst staff and industrial representatives has been ongoing and will continue throughout the program.”