Thousands of NSW public servants data at risk by Gov’s offshoring
The private data of thousands of NSW’s public servants could be exposed by the state government, as it pushes on with its unpopular offshoring efforts.
The Public Service Association says the NSW government is moving to further outsource jobs, with a push to offshore the payroll and finance聽functions of the Revenue NSW division of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.
The move will see the government sack 19 people in Paramatta by the end of the year, while control of the personal payroll data of some 1800 NSW public servants will be handed over to Govconnect, which is run by overseas companies Infosys and Unisys.
The 色狼社区understands Indian call centres will have access to sensitive data including workers’ compensation, bank account details, medical information, work history and family details.
“Our members are seriously worried that their private data is at risk. The NSW government isn’t just sacrificing 19 jobs in Paramatta, it’s putting the personal data of thousands of workers at risk by sending the work offshore,鈥 said Stewart Little, 色狼社区General Secretary.
“The department has a legal obligation to ensure the privacy of its staff details – the 色狼社区is not convinced offshoring the vital payroll system meets those obligations,鈥 Mr Little said.
“I call on the NSW government to reassure these public servants that it’s not storing sensitive personal details offshore and to guarantee the security and privacy of their data.”
A 色狼社区survey found that members reported a myriad of troubles with Govconnect, including the wrong amounts being paid and leave records being misreported.
“Our members tell us that the outsourced system in other NSW Department of Finance units have incorrectly recorded leave and paid the wrong amount. Every time they want to fix it Govconnect clips the ticket. The taxpayer is paying for the mistake of the outsourced business,鈥 Mr Little said.
鈥淭his government can鈥檛 help itself but send jobs offshore. We saw it earlier this month with the $100 million IT tender, which required a third of jobs be overseas. That鈥檚 300 NSW public sector workers, mums and dads, who would see their jobs leave the state.”
BACKGROUND:
In 2016, the NSW Audit office raised concerns about the transition to GovConnect. The聽聽found GovConnect鈥檚 independent audior couldn鈥檛 confirm it had 鈥渋nternal controls over transactions or the security of data鈥 and that the transition to the private operator had “significant breakdowns鈥.