A picture may be worth a thousand words but it is certainly not worth $3000.

Last year the government commissioned Dentsu Mitchell Media for the management of the Instagram account @AustraliansAtWork at a cost of $45,454.

This account was established to promote and direct users to the jobactive website and has 1,600 followers.

Despite having its own communications and media team, the Department of Employment outsourced this Instagram account.

In the five months of its management of the account, Dentsu Mitchell published a whopping 15 images. Thats less than one a week at an average cost of over $3000 each or over $28 per follower.

If the Minister believes this is a good use of tax payer funds she clearly does not understand how Australians use social media or how job seekers look for work.

Why, when the government is talking about budget repair, is it happy to throw $45,000 on a social media thought bubble? #instafail.