The Public Service Association’s (PSA’s) Industrial Officer and several delegates attended the quarterly Joint Consultative Committee meeting on Thursday 11 September 2025. This was the first meeting between the new National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Deputy Secretary, Alex Graham, and the PSA.

MyWorkZone

The issues created by fundamental programming errors in myWorkZone (MWZ) were again a major topic for discussion. Those staff carrying multiple roles within the Department (which affects many visitor service and casual staff) have been slugged with tax bills because of the separate profiles and personnel numbers created in the migration from MySAP to MWZ. The PSA was surprised that the Department was having difficulty in identifying all affected staff, which has apparently delayed any official apology to them. If separate profiles have been created, we have considerable concern that there may be errors in the carry-forward leave for affected staff, and the leave calculations in MWZ, particularly extended leave and, for casuals, long-service leave.

The PSA was extremely disappointed that the miscalculation of extended and other leave remains a known issue and that some balances are still not correct. If members are about to take leave, the advice is to submit a CS Connect ticket for a priority review to check balances. Given a reported miscalculation in at least one of these reviews, which ignored previous history of employment in a government agency, we advise members to carry out their own checks, too.

Administration Officers’ work roles and workloads

Administration Officers have significant work role and workload issues stretching back to 2018 Future NPWS restructure. The staff survey conducted 18 months ago was carried out at repeated requests from the PSA, and revealed poor role definition and unmanageable workloads for these staff. The Action Plan arising from the survey has delivered digital skills training for field staff and the Buddy Program.

However, the PSA continues to hold NPWS to account for resolving the main issues of poor role definition and inconsistencies across the state. The PSA is pleased at the commitment to rerun the administration staff survey as this may reveal the ongoing impact of MWZ, 12 months after its introduction.

One DCCEEW and Regulatory Review

The PSA asked about the implications of the One DCCEEW and Regulatory Review. About 30 NPWS staff have been moved to Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Corporate Services and the entire Wildlife Licensing Unit is proposed to move into the new Conservation and Heritage Regulator, along with the Specialist Investigations Unit which provides essential support and training for NPWS-authorised Officers. NPWS executives assured the PSA that they are observing these moves closely, and promised to ensure affected staff continue to be engaged and consulted.

The PSA specifically asked for an assurance that affected staff will remain subject to the NPWS award and requested confirmation of that in writing. There is a current commitment that the communications staff will continue to be primarily involved in NPWS matters, wear NPWS uniform and that there will be no change to pay or conditions, including access to incident conditions.

The PSA also asked for progress on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, which is responsible for NPWS digital services and facilities, and with the Department of Customer Service, which is now responsible for payroll. The absence of SLAs with these Departments, more than 18 months after the creation of NSW-DCCEEW, is deeply troubling. It does not bode well for the negotiation of an SLA with the new Conservation and Heritage Regulator regarding ongoing access to the Specialist Investigators for law enforcement training and support.

Issues yet to be resolved

Some longstanding issues were revisited at the meeting as business arising from previous meetings.

There has still been no resolution to the issue of Park Programs staff access to fleet vehicles if they are located in a Park Operations office. We were assured that a resolution would be provided at the next meeting, which is two years after the matter was first raised with the NPWS Executive. Please get in touch with your delegate if you are being denied access to a fleet vehicle and required to work longer hours to arrange, pick up and return a rental.

The PSA continues to advocate for temporary project roles to be made ongoing where those projects are continuing. We were pleased that staff attached to the feral free areas and the cat program have been made ongoing, and hope that the staff involved in the ecological health monitoring program will soon be made ongoing.

The state election commitment for 100 new roles is yet to be delivered. This is still in the planning stage, with positions not expected to be filled until December 2026, just before the next state election. Meanwhile, repeated requests from the PSA for updated organisational structures are yet to be provided. There will also be new roles for the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) which may prompt a restructure in North Coast Branch. More information about the GKNP positions’ location and classification was promised for the next meeting.

Discussions with Deputy Secretary NPWS

The PSA welcomed Alex Graham as the new Deputy Secretary. She recognises that the GKNP announcement and also the introduction of the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Repeal Bill have created some negative community reaction. We were pleased she recognises staff safety to be a priority in both cases.

Going forward, we hope Ms Graham will be the strong advocate for NPWS and its ongoing public branding and role that is required within the DCCEEW super-department.