Thousands of federal public servants could soon have their work laptops replaced with Apple iPads.

Senior officers in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs are trialling more than 40 iPads.

The trial is expected to conclude in early March.

The department will then decide whether to roll out thousands of the tablet computers.

Outgoing department head Dr Jeff Harmer told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra the productivity potential from the technology was “big”.