É«ÀÇÉçÇø

Trustee and Guardian: Joint Consultative Committee update

  29 May 2023

É«ÀÇÉçÇøorganisers Marko Petrovic and Jo Aboud met with members at Parramatta Justice Precinct (PJP) on Thursday, 4 May 2023. We would like to again thank everyone who took time out of their day to come and speak with us about the many issues that are deeply affecting yourselves and your colleagues.

In consultation with your delegates, the É«ÀÇÉçÇøsubmitted an extensive agenda which was tabled for discussion at the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting with the Senior Leadership Team. The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) was held on Thursday, 18 May 2023.

The É«ÀÇÉçÇøis working on the following

1. Reviewing workplace groups
   1. Tailoring our communications to workplace groups rather than physical work locations.
   2. Members will be placed in workplace groups according to their divisions (e.g., EM and EPA rather than Parramatta, Wollongong, or Newcastle).
   3. We will explore the creation of a separate Electorate for management (9/10 level and above eligible members).
   4. We will explore the creation of a separate Electorate for Remote workers (staff who work most of the time from their homes/hybrid locations).
   5. This will allow the É«ÀÇÉçÇøto focus on specific teams or divisions and improve the way we can address issues at a more local level.
2. Elections
   1. In line with the above, we will hold new delegate elections for the Departmental Committee (DC – the peak É«ÀÇÉçÇøbody which represents your interests).
   2. We will then be able to arrange elections for local workplaces if there is interest (these local workplace groups will be able to meet and discuss issues, and then forward those issues to the DC).
3. Communication
   1. Interested members are encouraged to contact Marko or Jo if they want to access the previous DC minutes.
   2. We intend to make future minutes available on the É«ÀÇÉçÇøSharePoint tile when this is implemented by the agency.

Progress report on outstanding items from the last JCC

• Global Directory (a centralised area which will contain all agency wide policy and procedure, to make it easier for staff to access relevant documents): Customer Experience and IT are working on how to implement this.

ACTION: The agency will report back at the next JCC.

• Informal PIP process (member feedback and observations from the É«ÀÇÉçÇøare that the current informal management practices should be less formal): The agency is looking at introducing a less formal template.

ACTION: The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill follow up at the end of June.

• Support person communique (clarify the role of support person and when one can be requested): Proposed TAG support person set of instructions.

ACTION: This document has been sent to the É«ÀÇÉçÇøfor review. Expected to be released by early June.

• É«ÀÇÉçÇøSharePoint (creating a tile on SharePoint which will contain all relevant É«ÀÇÉçÇødocuments, such as JCC minutes and basic information): Customer Experience and IT are working on how to implement this.

ACTION: The agency will report back at the next JCC.

• Flexible working plans (request for an update on how/when flexible work plans are being approved):

ACTION: The agency is following up and will provide an update at the end of June.

Key issues from É«ÀÇÉçÇøagenda

1. List of external contractors and temporary staff: This will be spoken about at an additional out of session.
   1. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwants this information as it is deeply concerned that the rate of temporary appointments is deeply impacting staffing in critical frontline areas.

ACTION: The agency is reviewing the request and will provide a response.

2. Workload issues: The É«ÀÇÉçÇøbelieves that the agency does not have an adequate plan for how to manage this issue. Real concerns were raised at the É«ÀÇÉçÇømeeting at PJP on Thursday 4 May, and how dire the situation is. If these concerns are not properly addressed, it may lead to potential industrial action. We asked for vacancies to be filled.

ACTION: Additional out of session meeting has been organised to discuss this further.

3. Phone queues & flexible working practices: É«ÀÇÉçÇøclarified that flexible work practices should be respected. Members are not to be directed to have both a start and finish time. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill consider further steps if overtime entitlements have not been paid. The agency wants to organise a follow-up meeting to see if the phone queue issue can be resolved by following principles that are applied in other agencies, such as Human Services.

ACTION: The agency met with the É«ÀÇÉçÇøout of session on 25 May 2023 to begin resolving this issue. The agency gave the É«ÀÇÉçÇøan undertaking to address the concerns which have been raised. The agency advised the É«ÀÇÉçÇøthat staff are not expected to stay on phone queues after 5:00pm, unless already engaged on a phone call. Further information as to how the agency is planning to resolve other issues (such as how to notify people on the queue after 5:00pm to call back tomorrow) is due to be given to the É«ÀÇÉçÇøby end of June.

4. Cultural issues: Particularly Parramatta and Newcastle, É«ÀÇÉçÇøhave asked that the Department urgently investigate the culture of these worksites as it has become clear that the culture is toxic. É«ÀÇÉçÇøhas requested that the agency develop a safe reporting system for issues, and that any further potential victimisation will be dealt with by the É«ÀÇÉçÇøwith potential disputes at the Industrial Relations Commission.

ACTION: The agency will release communications outlining its position on bullying and harassment. Agency will review the PSA’s request for a safe reporting system.

5. Work, Health and Safety: Inspection notices were issued to Gosford, Newcastle, and Parramatta in regard to the lockers. The Department has engaged a contractor to have a look at the lockers. É«ÀÇÉçÇøhas also issued an inspection notice for the PJP Reception area.

ACTION: The agency met with the É«ÀÇÉçÇøout of session on 25 May 2023 to begin resolving these issues. The inspection notice was suspended after the agency gave the É«ÀÇÉçÇøan undertaking to address the concerns which have been raised. The agency is due to reply back by the end of June.

6. Complaints: The É«ÀÇÉçÇørequested an outline of complaints data from 2017 to present. The agency advised that it does not have a mechanism to monitor all complaints. The É«ÀÇÉçÇørequested that the agency provide a list of all possible complaints data that it can collate.

ACTION: The agency is reviewing the request and will provide a response.

7. Audit Office Enquiry: the report has been released to the public and is 107 pages in total.

ACTION: The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill review the report and welcomes member feedback.

The É«ÀÇÉçÇøis working towards addressing your concerns and welcomes any member to come forward if there is something that has not been addressed.

As always, if you need to discuss further, please call the Member Support Centre on 1800 772 679 or contact your Organisers:

Marko Petrovic

Jo Aboud

There is power in a union – and that power comes from you. We need to all come together and work towards fixing these issues and make sure that we can put systems in place that will stop this happening again. It is vital that if you know someone that isn’t a member, that you ask them to join or speak with us today.