NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development reform: change plans finalised, 228 jobs deleted
26 September 2025
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has decided to take little notice of the Public Service Association (PSA) proposals to reduce the bloated senior service reductions or the 655 temporary staff employed in the affected divisions. Instead it decided to cut 228 front line staff from its 10 Change Management Plans.
What does this mean?
The magnitude front line job deletion has provided the clearest of signals that the NSW Government is using this budgetary situation to slash the provision of research, development and assistance to primary industries and regional economies in NSW. When DPIRD says streamline, it should be recognised for what it is – gutting.
This reform does not lead to the delivery of world-class, on-farm science for NSW primary producers facing the harsh realities of climate change. It’s a development to the lowest common denominator of assistance.
It’s a pivot to policy because it’s cheaper.
It’s a shortsighted budgetary surrender and it’s at the expense of regional jobs and regional economies. It will hurt the state’s prestige of providing first-class, science-based outcomes and it will hurt primary producers.
The worst bit is that it could have been undertaken in a manner that would provide reassurance to primary industry, regional economies and a proper pivot towards new research and development proposals. DPIRD kept nearly all of the 159 senior executives and more than $60 million in temporary staff in the affected divisions. Science-based roles in the middle of operations in the field are being deleted. How can the agency claim that this won’t affect service?
This Government can no longer claim it supports the various research stations across the state. These locations are being left to die on the vine with the concern that these stations, starved of funds and staff, will become inefficient, ineffective and ripe for closure.
In the Research Assurance Division, the decision to delete 19 administrative jobs will mean more than 30,000 hours less support per year for those operations. This means the DPIRD has sought to build staggering inefficiencies into its operations. And that’s not the only division where administrative support has been slashed.
At a time when this Agriculture Minister stood up and said that services will not be affected and that is demonstrably false. Agronomists will lose their jobs, irrigation specialists will lose their jobs, researchers and research scientists will lose their jobs, technical and program experts will lose their jobs.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøis left to ask what industry or tertiary body will readily enter partnerships with DPIRD knowing that the NSW Government is actively seeking to extricate its support for on-farm research and development?
Some deleted operations in the biosecurity space were the only ones in Australia assisting the NSW Police in animal and plant DNA analysis to bring criminals to justice.
There are 228 DPIRD staff today who have been told they don’t have a job, and only 96 who have the possibility of finding jobs in this reform. Many of those affected individuals are over 55 years of age, and have given more than 20 years of service to DPIRD.
What’s next?Â
Affected staff can provide an expression of interest (EOI) for the 96 proposed roles. Some will be part of the closed EOIs for roles at locations and grades, some will be expanded to roles across Change Plans.
Other staff will make their way into mobility pathways, where the agency seeks to find roles for staff in other public sector agencies. Where niche roles like meat scientists will find another role outside of DPIRD is anyone’s guess.
Job swaps
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill provide support to members who wish to stay and those who wish to explore the options of mobility or voluntary redundancy. Those members should contact the PSA.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill not stop fighting and we will continue to condemn the Secretary and the Minister in their failure to protect this state’s agriculture and biosecurity.
Contact
Shane Howes Industrial Officer