The PSA has received draft NSW Office of Sport (OOS) Temporary Reassignment Procedures for Centres and Venues staff for consultation. The draft can be seen HERE.
At the Joint Consultative Committee meeting on Tuesday 30 June the PSA undertook to consult with staff in relation to this proposal.
Current feedback from delegates and members
The Temporary Reassignments Procedure places a significant burden on Program Officers by requiring them to be available for deployment to other centres based primarily on operational need, while providing limited consideration of the cumulative psychosocial impact on employees.
Program Officers already work in a unique operating environment that can require up to eight overnight duties or on-call nights per roster cycle, equating to approximately 104 nights per year. The reassignment framework has the potential to increase time spent away from home, family, friends, and established support networks beyond what is ordinarily contemplated in their substantive role.
The Office of Sport’s own psychosocial risk framework identifies hazards such as low job control, remote and isolated work, fatigue, poor support, organisational change and work-life conflict as factors that can contribute to psychological harm. Many of these hazards are inherent within the reassignment model, yet the procedure contains no formal requirement to assess its impact on affected employees.
Of particular concern is that:
- There is no limit on the number of reassignments an employee may be required to undertake.
- Employee preferences may be considered but can be overridden by operational requirements.
- There is no requirement to assess cumulative time away from home over a year.
- There is no process to monitor the impact on mental health, fatigue, wellbeing, stress, turnover or psychosocial injury.
- There are no specific wellbeing supports or psychosocial controls linked to reassignment.
- There are no considerations or concessions in place for financial impacts for staff.
As a result, the policy is likely to create a situation where employees may experience increasing separation from family and personal support networks, greater disruption to caring responsibilities, reduced control over their working arrangements, and increased fatigue and social isolation without any structured assessment of the psychological risks involved.
In practical terms, the procedure appears to focus heavily on maintaining service delivery and workforce flexibility but does not apply the same psychosocial risk management principles that the Office of Sport requires elsewhere in its WHS framework. Consequently, the policy appears to prioritise operational needs over the proactive protection of employee mental health and wellbeing.
The PSA has supported members recently in situations outlined above with the only flexibility offered at times is to take leave if you cannot meet operational needs. Hardly flexible!
If members can provide your feedback to or 1800 772 679.Please quote Case ID C10020338 by cob 13 July 2026.
Contacts
Claudia Bianchi Sydney Metro PSA Organiser