PSA expect FACS announcement on savage cuts to corporate services – August 2017 (PDF version)
The PSA will meet with newly appointed Deputy Secretary, John Hubby, on 22 August to discuss the agency’s plans for the future of corporate services delivery.
Every indication we’ve received from FACS suggests the agency intends to make extensive changes to its corporate service arm through a combination of job cuts and contracting out. Anecdotal reports suggest some areas expect to lose in excess of 60 per cent of existing staff, while other services currently performed ‘in-house’ are tendered out to private sector providers.
Underpinning the mooted change is a shift in thinking about role of the public sector in the delivery of ‘public services’. We understand the Secretary, Michael Coutts-Trotter and Mr Hubby share a view the public sector should adopt a more ‘strategic’ role (i.e. goal setting) while inviting the private sector to tender for the operational (service delivery) side of the agency’s ‘business’.
The PSA believes there is already ample evidence – in NSW, other state jurisdictions and internationally – to demonstrate that outsourcing is not a silver bullet solution to the challenges facing the public sector. In fact, it has led to significantly decreased services, support and outcomes for the community. Rather, the biggest obstacles to achieving improved social outcomes in the human services are under-resourcing, under-investment and structural instability (that is, constant, poorly designed and disruptive organisational change) in the public sector.
The PSA has previously written to Deputy Premier, the Hon John Barilaro, to express concern over the impact of job cuts on regional NSW. Mr Barilaro never replied to our correspondence.
In our view, no government in living memory has overseen such a consistent and concerted attack on public sector jobs and core public services – such as child protection, ageing and disability services and social housing including the vital front-line support that corporate services provides – as has the current NSW Government. As a result of outsourcing and savage restructuring, the number of FACS employees is expected to be cut from approximately 21,000 in June 2014 (FACS Annual Report) to about 7,000 employees come July 2018.
In the past six years, the various Coalition Governments (O’Farrell, Baird, Berejiklian) have done their utmost to cut, privatise and hollow out the Department of Family and Community Services to the extent that it is now an open question as to whether this government intends to have any role in the provision of services to some of the most vulnerable people in our society in the future, or whether they simply plan to vacate the field and leave social welfare to the private and charitable sectors.
You deserve better, your colleagues deserve better and the people of NSW deserve better.
Your union will continue to advocate on your behalf for a fairer deal with all levels of management, politicians and the courts if necessary, and do all we can to minimise if not stop entirely this radical proposal and its disastrous potential after-effects.
There has never been a more important time to stick together and stay involved.
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