Service NSW to be restructured – hopefully abolished altogether?

This news is to all those grant recipients starting to have received debt collection invoices since July 2024, generated by Service NSW.  Such debt collection invoices for the entioe grant to be refunded is baseless.  Scamming Service NSW is escalating its threats by  palmed off the debt collection to some other Department of Customer Service (different tax office ABN to Service NSW ABN and so all such invoices are invalid).

Why, well we are reading between the lines of this new desperate and hate-filled debt collection tactic.

Service NSW since mid-2024 has been undergoing an organisational restructure…yet again.  Mass sackings are imminent, especially starting with its temporary ring-in debt collectors.   So in chaotic desperation by CEO Greg Wells, the dodgy ‘audit’ is being steadily “paused”…”delayed”…”postponed”, or otherwise surrendered to pure debt collection by Revenue NSW.

Greg’s wiping his hands.

 

“Out, damned spot!  Out, I say!…”

Established in 2013, Service NSW staff have copped two restructures since; the first in 2017 and the second in 2022 in the aftermath of the 2011 election.

Recent New South Wales state elections being held:

  • 24 March 2007
  • 26 March 2011
  • 28 March 2015
  • 23 March 2019
  • 25 March 2023

 

This current one is now the third in Service NSW’s short ten year tenure.  So, lookout NSW public servants after the March 2027 election!

NSW Public Service Restructure

Records confirm that this has become a habit of successive NSW governments in the aftermath of each respectively winning elections every four years.   The impetus of the victors repeatedly being to ‘refresh’, clean out the dead wood of the previous administration, to put their political stamp on some renewal initiative over the incumbent public service, which they perceive (wrongly) to be political hacks of the previous regime.

NSW Public Service Restructure

This seems to invariably involve repeated mass redundancies and sackings, internal chaos, staff anxiety, shutting down programmes, shutting down sub departments, and ultimately ‘breaking the bank’ in all the political enthusiasm to again re-invent and to fix what is mostly not broken.  It is all unnecessarily sudden. It adversely affects staff with anxiety about their income and future.  It is political disabling interference in the propriety and independence of our public service profession. It wastes valuable taxpayer wealth. It seems to achieve besides proverbially shuffling deck chairs.

The NSW Government’s re-branding of all the state’s public transport infrastructure with orange signage from 2013.  It was the LNP’s Premier Barry O’Farrell’s kingly stamp of “I came, I saw, I oranged NSW public transport“.  His legacy cost how many hundreds of millions wasted?

Under this NSW Public Service Restructure cyclical political habit by incoming governments,  to those seeking a stable job for life, thinking about a career in the NSW public service being financial secure to afford and buy you own home, raise a family and pay off the mortgage; well you’d be wise to have a coffee chat with an experienced public servant, first.

Our Tour Director didn’t come down in the last rain shower.  In a previous life, he knew of the NSW public service full well, having experienced senior administrative ‘stints’ (to Grade 6 but roles not disclosed) with the NSW public service in both full time and contractual capacities in the head offices of the following:

  1. NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (remember them?)
  2. NSW Department of Juvenile Justice
  3. NSW Department of Energy Australia
  4. NSW Department of Sydney Ports Corporation
  5. NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care
  6. NSW Department of Education and Training
  7. NSW Department of Public Prosecutions

Was he a Public Servant during this time?  Yes, professionally and proudly.

Do you think he gained an insight during all this experience time into the administration and machinations of the executives?  Yes.

Departmental senior executives feed incoming ministers what mushrooms get

The non-consultative knee-jerk incoming authority stamp by doing a Public Service Restructure also involves setting up new programmes and setting up new sub-departments and then inevitably recruiting again – new executives and new staff and contractors.

In the case of Service NSW, this customer service umbrella department was dreamt up by NSW Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell back in March 2011.  More of that later.

The general public can liken such frequent restructure to reverse cycle air-conditioning.

Reverse Cycle Restructuring – Goldilocks structure and staffing to suit the personal ambience of the pollies of the day

It’s a typical play thing of incoming politicians emboldened as ministers with power, dosh and staffers.   It also happens typically when the incoming NSW Treasury realises that it has run out of money due to the over spend of the outgoing lot now in opposition.

Opposition Candidate: “What shall we do when we come to power?” 

 

 

…”I know, let’s do a distractive restructure – so relocate the offices, shake off the fat cat executives, rightsize the workforce, re-brand the lot so we can prove that us representatives are back in charge!”

Penfolds Bazza introduced his brainchild ‘Service NSW (One-stop Access to Government Services) Bill 2013′ and et Voilà! his Service NSW mega-department was born.

Push-button Restructuring Bill

 

 

So, currently in 2024, ten years hence under a NSW Labor Minns Government this time, its their turn with the remote.

In our recent article we highlighted a symptom of this restructuring of the Perrottet- fattened Service NSW by the Minns Ministry’s announcement in July of proposed massive job cuts looming:

Service NSW facing massive job cuts – the contract scammers first to go we hope!

We’ve since discovered that the union representing the public service staff employed by Service NSW, The Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) has been in an ongoing lengthy dispute with Service NSW about all this.

Top be clear, ‘Service NSW‘ is the public brand name of the NSW Department of Digital Government (ABN 37 552 837 401) [SOURCE] as registered back on 18 March 2013 by the O’Farrell NSW Liberal coalition government.

The current minister responsible for Service NSW is The Hon. Jihad Dib MP of the Minns NSW Labor Ministry.  Jihad Dib is also the NSW Minster for the Department of Customer Service (different ABN 81 913 830 179 [SOURCE].  So his current combined title is Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government.  This is on top of Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Youth Justice.  So, lumbered with these three ministerial portfolios, he hasn’t got time to scratch himself.

Back to Service NSW and its latest restructure…

 

The Minns-Mookhey 2024 Budget as presented on 18 June 2024, flagged a need for “careful” and “tight spending discipline” by the NSW Government for next term ahead.  This has since transpired that it will cut $170 million in funding to Service NSW over the next 12 months, amongst many other substantial public service funding cuts.

For Service NSW (thus far) these cuts translate to about 200 job cuts as part of its four proposed Restructure Management Plans (RMPs) affected Service NSW sub-departments (“areas”) thus:

  1. Risk, Strategy and Customer Support
  2. Service Delivery contact Centre
  3. Partnerships, Projects, and Insights
  4. Cyber Security

 

Here’s a bureaucratic message quoted by the PSA from its timely 4th July ‘declaration’ meeting behind closed doors with Service NSW senior executives (CEO Greg Wells?) to reassure the staff:

Quote:

“it is anticipated that a number of staff will be going through the mobility programme prior to being declared excess.” 

(Aka ‘palmed off’ to the likes of back blocks Wilcannia, ‘collateral damage’, or ‘terminated with extreme prejudice’).  This harks to Nature Trail’s first threatening email received from Service NSW debt agent ‘Angela’ on 11 April 2023, who in her email template demanded we repay the grant in full, writing:

“We understand that having to repay the funds may be unexpected.”  

 

So, for Service NSW, apparently, “This is the first wave of change; we expect there to be two other waves later this year completing first half of next year.” (aka, you ain’t seen nothing yet).

 

Details of the 4th July Declaration by CEO Greg Wells:

“It is proposed that ‘Disaster and Recovery’ be removed as a Directorate with the work moving into PPI.  PPI will have 6 portfolios and there will be a reduction of 198 FTE roles.

Cyber Security is creating a Digital Forensics Team. The Cyber Resilience Program is no longer being funded and so is being removed.

Procurement is becoming a new Directorate called Procurement and Commercial.
Contact centres has 6 clusters currently moving to skills profiles and is losing 32 Team Leader roles, 3 Centre Manager roles and 2 Snr Centre Manager roles.

Service has also advised that 6 Senior Executive Band (SEB) roles will go however that number is insignificant in what we believe to be a total reduction of 235 FTE roles across Service in this first wave.

Details are still being worked through however PSA has again stressed the need for ongoing staff to be the last to be impacted. We have requested that management provide details of contract staff numbers and confirm that these will be first to go.”

[SOURCE:  ‘Huge Cuts in Service NSW – over 200 jobs on the chopping block’, July 9,  by PSA Bulletin – Latest News – Service NSW, ^https://psa.asn.au/huge-cuts-in-service-nsw-over-200-jobs-on-the-chopping-block/ ]

Here’s more HR “management of excess”  and “workforce transition” speak set to beset Service NSW staff confronting terminations:

 

[It’s so Orwellian, but not quite sympathetic Jihad, perhaps karma for grant recipient victims of Service NSW debt collection scam]

 

From PSA:

“For people still on leave or not impacted until Waves 2 or 3, it was confirmed that mobility will be open to them in those waves.”

“There will be one-on-ones for people on leave to ensure they are provided the information on what to do, particularly in terms of joining the process late when returning from leave or choosing to engage while still on leave.”  (Nice way to spend your leave).”

“PSA reminds members that roles outside Service NSW can have different salaries. For instance, a 6/7 role in Service NSW may match with a 5/6 role in the Department of Customer Service (DCS), but only up to 7 (year 2). If you are at a 7 (year 3) grading, the salary will not be the same. Salary maintenance is confirmed for 3 months only for roles in DCS and not available for roles in other government agencies.”

“Calculations for a Voluntary Redundancy are available in the Sharepoint hub and also in the Managing Excess Employees Policy.”

“Service Delivery help will be rolled out across the entire service deliver which should take the strain. They also intend to mature operational support so they can take work from Team Leaders as well.”

 

“While they feel it is unlikely that a whole cluster would be devoid of Team Leaders, Service NSW says it will run a risk assessment prior to completion to understand how the final structure will look and what impacts it may have.”

“Several members raised concerns about bias. It was reiterated that there will be independent people on the recruitment panels, including from HR/P&C and/or the Executive Director Service Delivery.”

“After concerns raised by PSA, Service NSW has amended its process and people will be directly assigned where possible, rather than have to go through an Expression of Interest (EOI).”

“The process will be halted prior to the Christmas break to ensure that no one will lose their job before Christmas.”  (i.e. if you come back to work, someone will be in your seat).”

“It is understood that the media articles are beyond the control of Service NSW, and they will not be commenting on them.”  (guilty 🙂

“There is no intent to assign people to roles far away from where they live. Landing days and travel associated with them is still being looked at. (Wilcannia has been deemed to be an outer suburb of Sydney by the NSW Public Service Commission ‘Workforce Transition Plan’).

“Tier 1 Skilling – members have been concerned about work overload. We were advised that there will be progressive training. (after hours)   They are also willing to examine what is simple and what is complex in terms of tasks an broaden and strengthen knowledge.

“Members raised specific concerns about assignment to role outside their region and we are advised that Service NSW has no intention of assigning to a role where you can’t do the hours or the travel. (eg: commuting to and from Wilcannia)

“PSA has been provided with information in relation to reduction of Senior Executive Band (SEB) roles. We confirm that Service NSW has committed to a reduction of 16% of SEB roles by the end of financial year 24/25.”

“Procurement has had about a dozen pieces of feedback, and they are looking at clarifying what each team will do. Role Descriptions are also being realigned.”

[SOURCE:  The Public Service Association of New South Wales website]

 

Oh, and by the way, “the hiring process at NSW Government takes an average of 71.22 days when considering 49 user submitted interviews across all job titles”. But then comes the Capability Framework processing, which can take a lifetime to rise to be one of those more equal.  (Not 71 but 71.22!)

References:

[1]   ‘Huge Cuts in Service NSW – over 200 jobs on the chopping block‘, 2024-07-09, The Public Service Association of New South Wales, in its member bulletin, ^https://psa.asn.au/huge-cuts-in-service-nsw-over-200-jobs-on-the-chopping-block/

[2]  ‘The Public Service Association of New South Wales website‘, member bulletin, search phrase ‘Service NSW’, ^https://psa.asn.au/?s=service+nsw

[3]  ‘Service NSW facing massive job cuts – the contract scammers first to go we hope!‘, 2024-08-06, ^https://naturetrail.com.au/blog-post/service-nsw-facing-massive-job-cuts-the-contract-scammers-first-to-go-we-hope/

[4]   ‘Huge Cuts in Service NSW – over 200 jobs on the chopping block‘, July 9,  by PSA Bulletin – Latest News – Service NSW, ^https://psa.asn.au/huge-cuts-in-service-nsw-over-200-jobs-on-the-chopping-block/ ]

[5]   ‘Service NSW Restructure: Mobility, EOIs, Assignment to Role and changes to structure‘ August 7, 2024 Bulletins – Customer Service – Latest News – Service NSW

Service NSW Restructure: Mobility, EOIs, Assignment to Role and changes to structure