A meeting was convened between the EPA and the PSA on 2 June 2020, regarding outstanding issues relating to the restructure.
The specific concerns raised, as outlined below, relate to the lack of a transition plan that operations staff can use to move from the “old” model to this new “boundary-less” model.
- the lack of support or guidance for Unit Heads having to allocate work and sign-off on documents within their teams where that work is outside their previous area of expertise
- uneven distribution of licences and no logic behind where licences sit within teams
- it is unclear where incoming planning matters should be allocated given there are no LGA-specific or “theme”-specific boundaries causing unnecessary delays making meeting statutory timeframes difficult
- staff having to quickly come up to speed on issues and manage licences they have never dealt with before and no support in place (i.e. a previously waste operations officer suddenly having to deal with a radiation licence, or a previous forestry officer suddenly dealing with noise and odour complaints).
Unit Heads should contact Jane Burgett with other examples of issues that need to be worked through so she can collate common themes to take to Management for resolution. Representations will remain anonymous in this process so please urge other Unit Heads who may not be PSA members experiencing issues and frustrations, to join the PSA and become part of the collective for Jane to collate your issues. You can join at www.psa.asn.au/join.
The EPA has a standalone Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting scheduled for 9 June 2020. The JCC will be attended by the EPA CEO and senior EPA Management, Senior DPIE industrial staff, the EPA delegates and PSA industrial staff. The JCC is a forum held quarterly to raise issues and concerns that impact upon the EPA PSA membership.
You can also speak to your Delegates
David Bell
Jane Burgett
Scott King
Simon Taylor
Eve Chong