Ugg! Keep those boots away from the office

An Australian government department has issued a new dress code because staff have been turning up in 'onesies, ugg boots and thongs'. Photo / Thinkstock

An Australian government department has issued an official dress code to public servants, ordering them to stop turning up in "onesies, ugg boots and thongs".

The Immigration Department, which typically makes headlines internationally for its role in detaining boat people in offshore detention centres, said it has issued a new dress code because staff have been turning up in increasingly casual attire.

"There are certain things that wouldn't constitute professional business dress and that would be things like jeans, thongs, ugg boots and so on," Jan Dorrington, a senior department official, told a parliamentary committee.

Asked whether staff actually turn up to work in ugg boots, Dorrington responded: "Ah, you'd be surprised."

Mike Pezzullo, the immigration departmental secretary, said he was asked to rule on the appropriateness of onesies .

"I didn't even know what a onesie was and I was shown pictures of such garb."

Asked by an MP for a definition of the term, Pezzullo responded: "I had to put it out of my head very quickly, senator."

He added: "I guess in the old days you would have called it a boiler suit of some description."

Mr Pezzullo said the rules were not draconian but designed to encourage "basic professionalism".