Corrective Service Non Custodial bulletin – December 2015 (PDF version)

Restructure of Correctional Centre Administration and Stores staff – dispute lodged

The PSA has lodged a dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission about the restructure of Administration and Stores roles in Correctional Centres. The dispute concerns the failure Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) to release all documents and information relevant to the proposed change, and CSNSW’s refusal to commit to a plan to consult with the PSA and affected staff.

To date, CSNSW has provided a number of documents to the PSA about the proposed restructure. CSNSW has also placed them on the intranet, although this has not been announced to staff. These documents are; a number of proposed role descriptions, a draft implementation plan and position impact tables for each Centre.

These documents make little or no sense without the larger context of the proposed change and raise more questions than answers, such as:

• What rationale has been used to allocate roles to specific Centres?

• Why have certain roles been deleted or downgraded?

• How will the proposed merger of administrative and stores roles work?

• Are there any changes to reporting lines, and if so, what are they?

Without answers to these questions and others like them, the information released to date confuses rather than informs our members and makes it impossible for the PSA to engage with you in a helpful and meaningful way.

Also of concern is CSNSW’s refusal, despite repeated requests from the PSA, to commit to a consultation framework for the proposed change. It is suspected that CSNSW is only paying lip-service to its obligations to consult before making decisions that affect our members, which has made our application to the Industrial Relations Commission a necessity.

We have asked that:

• All documents and information relevant to the restructure are released to the PSA and staff

• On release of these documents, CSNSW shall facilitate paid meetings for PSA members at sites affected by the change. The meetings are to occur within one month of the release of the documents

• After the meetings, the PSA and staff will be able to provide written comment about the proposal to CSNSW, and that a further two weeks be allowed for this

• To give our members confidence that their comments will be considered, CSNSW is obliged to provide a response in writing to feedback

• The PSA is committed to communication with its members and will provide further updates about this very significant matter as it comes to hand.