Fury over ‘dangerous’ mass job cuts within the NSW Government’s Service NSW
Written by admin on July 10, 2024
A whistleblower has exposed the true extent of mass job cuts within a mega government department that provides direct services to the public, from natural disaster recovery to licensing.
Hundreds of jobs within Service NSW are set to be axed as part of a broader trimming down of the state’s public sector, which is Australia’s largest employer with a headcount of more than 453,000.
“The way this is being handled internally is appalling,” the furious employee told news.com.au.
Almost 5000 people work for Service NSW, the department responsible for everything from car registration and births, deaths and marriages to emergency assistance during bushfires, floods and drought.
They’ve been kept in the dark about which roles are set to be cut, but leaked government documents give a worrying indication that divisions managing cyber security, digital services and even customer contact centres are in the firing line.
Service NSW is the first area of the public sector to be restructured, as part of Premier Chris Minns’ election commitment to find significant cost savings.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Customer Service Minister Jihad Dib insisted the job cuts would “predominantly impact contractors, temporary employees, and staff through natural attrition”.
But an internal document marked ‘sensitive’, obtained by news.com.au, reveals the restructure plan for just one significant division – and the vast majority of the 188 redundancies affect permanent workers.
Community put in danger
The Projects, Partnerships and Insights (PPI) division, which manages disaster recovery and disaster preparation programs, among others, will lose 166 permanent positions and 22 contract roles.
Stewart Little, general secretary of the Public Service Association, slammed the government’s secrecy and accused Treasurer Daniel Mookhey of breaking a promise made just weeks ago that “there would be no job losses”.
“This is a huge cut in essential frontline support for the public,” Mr Little said.
“Our members in Service NSW are embedded in every community across the state. Every town has a Service NSW office. This will impact everyone.
“After there’s a flood or bushfire, or when we’re in the midst of a pandemic, Service NSW is there, ensuring the public has access to the services they need. They are the front desk of the government.
“If you’ve lost your house to bushfire for example, Service NSW is where you go to access emergency grants and get copies of your essential documents like a new driver’s license.
“This is a slap in the face for people trying to recover from flood, bushfire and drought.”
Mr Little warned the consequences of the job cuts in the PPI will be realised when NSW has “another flood or a bad bushfire season”.
“Who will provide relief to affected communities? I mean, there are still people living in tents in Lismore following the floods [in February 2022].”
‘That’s not true’
The government insists the PPI division mostly oversaw the rollout of a number of Covid-19 support initiatives, such as the Covid-Safe Check In, Dine & Discover vouchers, and financial support grants, which have all been wound up.
But the whistleblower who spoke to news.com.au rejected that claim, saying the team ensures the delivery of a host of vital services.
“This is why you don’t have to wait for a period of time on the phone, or any applications are done in a certain period of time, or outages are avoided or managed appropriately,” they said.
“Minister Dib is stating in the news that the changes will predominantly impact contractors, temporary employees, and staff through natural attrition. This is not true.”
The document exposing the severity of cuts to permanent staff in the PPI business unit “is just an example” of what’s expected across the whole of Service NSW, the whistleblower said.
Hundreds more cuts elsewhere
Another leaked document revealing the “sequencing and timelines for change” lists 17 other business units within Service NSW that will see redundancies.
Among them are customer contact centres, cyber security, digital services, business bureau services, workplace health and safety, and contract procurement.
“Customer service will be impacted,” the whistleblower said.
If the severity of job cuts revealed in the PPI division are replicated elsewhere, the whistleblower who spoke to news.com.au fears “more than 50 per cent of staff” could be sacked.
The union claims job cuts will “disproportionately affect regional communities”.
“These workers are basically the front desk of the government and when you cut them you make it more difficult for the people of NSW to access welfare and support,” Mr Little said.
“If job cuts are to be made they should be focused on senior executives and contractors before frontline workers who every day talk to the public so they can get access to crucial government services.”
Uncertainty until November
Another leaked document reveals the timing of redundancies across Service NSW, with a period of consultation now underway and a detailed announcement of the restructure due in late November.
That means hundreds of people will be turfed out just before Christmas.
There’s a growing sense of uncertainty and anger across the workforce over how the restructure has been communicated, it’s understood.
Staff have been cautioned not to discuss the job cuts with their colleagues, news.com.au has been told, and instead provide “feedback” via formal channels.
“They’re essentially telling us not to [say anything] publicly, but under a veil of secrecy,” the whistleblower said.
A Department of Customer Service spokesperson said: “Service NSW acknowledges this is a stressful time for many of our staff and their families and is making every effort to ensure people are supported.
“This includes access to free and independent counselling as well as coaching and support to search and apply for other roles.”
The government has approved $86 million to pay out redundancies, it’s understood. The whistleblower fears that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bill footed by taxpayers.
“In six months’ time when the work starts to pile up, they will start rehiring again. So, this taxpayer money is [being] managed in a negligent way.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Customer Service said all 117 of Service NSW’s physical customer-facing offices will remain operational, adding there are no plans to “remove existing core services”.
“There will be a focus on maintaining existing face-to-face customer services, while the Service NSW app is also being uplifted as part of the NSW Government’s investment in the Digital ID program,” the spokesperson said.
‘Unsustainable’ workforce growth
About 4950 staff are currently employed by Service NSW – almost double the number just before the Covid pandemic in mid-2019.
“This is not sustainable,” Mr Dib’s spokesperson said.
“Given the size of the deficit left to us by the former government, it is essential that we continue to be responsible with taxpayer money.”
During the last state election, Labor campaigned on a platform of efficiencies, including slashing the number of senior executive roles across all departments by a total of 15 per cent.
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It also pledged to take a knife to costly recruitment agency contractor roles in the public service, reducing that headcount by a total of 25 per cent.
The number of full-time roles across the entire NSW public sector in 2023 increased by 4.7 per cent compared to the previous year, with an additional 17,265 people hired in just 12 months.
The median salary paid is $95,984.
