The PSA would like to thank all members who have taken the time to provide feedback to Transprt for NSW’s (TfNSW’s) proposed Workplace Presence policy. It not too late to provide further feedback to the PSA, either by taking our survey HERE, or emailing

We are compiling the feedback to provide a comprehensive submission to TfNSW by Wednesday 19 March 2025. What is clear is that there are a huge number of unanswered questions and issues with the policy as it currently stands. As such the PSA has notified TfNSW of the following:

• A request to extend consultation time for a further week.
• That TfNSW conduct another Town Hall-type meeting regarding Workplace Presence, with the ability of participants to have their questions answered by TfNSW leaders.

Initial survey results

The PSA has conducted two surveys of our membership relating to workplace presence, receiving more than 1000 responses. Some standout results from those surveys include:

• 85 per cent of respondents indicated a preference for working from home on a Monday or Friday. TfNSW has not made clear how it will manage the spread of working days with increased working from office requirements and provide an acceptable working environment for their employees.
• 44 per cent of respondents accepted an offer of employment based on the ability to work from home
• 79 per cent of respondents held concerns around a drop of efficiency with needing to come into the office more regularly, and 84 per cent were concerned around increased individual costs
• 54 per cent of participants would be seeking an “individual hybrid arrangement, with just 2 per cent of participants indicating they would take up the “default” arrangement of 100 per cent working from the office
• 45 per cent of participants confirmed they would actively look for other jobs

We are still going through the hundreds of comments provided so far to inform our feedback to TfNSW.

Initial issues with policy

Members have raised several issues with the policy throughout our meetings and through comments submitted directly to the PSA. These include:

• The folly of undertaking a huge change in flexible workplace practices before the flagged “organisational redesign”. Any changes to Workplace Presence should occur AFTER the organisational redesign, which will affect people ‘hub” location, reporting lines, and will potentially require any hybrid agreements to be renegotiated.
• Massive concerns that TfNSW does not have appropriate accommodation and equipment to cope with an increase in office attendance, particularly in regional locations.
• The inability to actually book desks in all “approved transport workplaces”.
• The “standard” hybrid agreement still requires manager approval. If this arrangement is a standard arrangement, it should be the automatic baseline without the need to rely on an individual manager’s inclination to approve or reject.
• Furthermore, this discretionary component to flexibility disproportionately affects women. TfNSW needs to explain how it will continue to support the workforce participation of women and gender equality if decisions around flexibility are left solely to individual managers.
• No information on how TfNSW plans to monitor the monthly workplace presence requirements.

The above list is not exhaustive, and all issues with the policy will be included in our formal feedback to TfNSW.

Next meeting: Wednesday 19 March 2025

In addition to the six previous sessions, the PSA will be holding a further PSA member meeting around the policy. The next meeting will focus on our submission, and TfNSW’s responses to our above initial requests. The details of the online meeting will be distributed in a separate bulletin.