The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Joint Consultative Committee (JCC met on 20 March 2025 to discuss a range of issues including:

NPWS Briefing by Acting NPWS Deputy Secretary, Naomi Stephens

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Secretary, Anthony Lean, with the Secretaries of other departments and Treasury has been meeting with officials to discuss further work to embed DCCEEW.

The NPWS Deputy Secretary’s position has been advertised.  There are currently acting arrangements in place.

 The Cyclone Alfred response and recovery action by North Coast Branch was highlighted.  Also highlighted was the significant body of work to identify land suitable for reservation as the Great Koala National Park (GKNP). The decision regarding the announcement of the GKNP is progressing in the political realms.  The PSA is working to ensure that any announcement is accompanied by the necessary staff and resourcing to manage these new additions.

The new DCCEEW’s email address will be rolled out later this month without consultation.  The PSA has advocated that changing email addresses across the Department is a poor use of resources and will only add to the administrative strain on our members.

My Work Zone

The number of issues relating to the implementation of My Work Zone (MWZ) continue to increase. This system is not user-friendly nor effective or efficient (particularly for our grade 5/7 members). Unfortunately, members must continue to waste valuable time dealing with a system that is inappropriate for the needs of members working in NPWS. The PSA continues to advocate for communication with affected staff and quick resolution of the long standing issues with the system.

Future of feral-free enclosure and Eco Health projects

The PSA is concerned that while these projects have been promoted as a long-term success story for conservation, many of the staff involved are only temporary, with some contracts ending this July.

The future of these projects are now the subject of the 25/26 budgetary process. The meeting was advised that many temporary staff may be affected by the budgetary process.

The PSA will continue to advocate for roles involved in these projects to be made ongoing through a fair and equitable process.

Victorian fire deployment

The PSA raised concerns about extended shift lengths for interstate and international fire deployments, in particular recent Victorian deployments when normal work days before deployment were not appropriately taken into account. This meant that staff in that deployment worked 12 days without a break. The meeting was advised that, while the NPWS Fire Management Manual covers firefighters working certain shift patterns, these had to be varied due to the short notice given for the need to prepare and deploy NPWS firefighters to Victoria.

NPWS committed to review the fire management manual and update it to ensure that firefighter fatigue and safety issues are addressed.