Update for National Parks and Wildlife Service members
National Parks Joint Consultative Committee meeting: 4 December 2025
The Public Service Association (PSA) Industrial Officer, Organiser and several Delegates attended the quarterly Joint Consultative Committee meeting on Thursday 4 December. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Deputy Secretary, Alex Graham, was present for most of the meeting.
Deputy Secretary NPWS report
Ms Graham discussed the Great Koala National Park and the planning for its establishment: ‘if and when’ it is established. Apparently, the park’s establishment is contingent upon the registration of a carbon project which must be approved by the Commonwealth Government. This comment came as somewhat a surprise to some in the meeting and may puzzle some of our members working tirelessly in the planning phase of the park’s establishment.
Also relating to koalas, all temporary staff who are employed under the Koala Strategy have been extended to September 2026, pending the upcoming budget. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill continue to advocate for staff doing this important work to be made ongoing.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøraised concerns regarding the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) restructure resulting in the creation of the Conservation and Heritage Regulator in Conservation Programs, Heritage and Regulation (CPHR). Concerns included a lack of clarify on whether NPWS would still carry out any off-park wildlife functions. A key unresolved issue is the future of law enforcement training and support currently provided by the Specialist Investigators. Their loss to NPWS would be the last in a series of cutbacks affecting NPWS’s capacity in carrying out law enforcement functions, which includes loss of the duty solicitor and no move to update the Legal Eyes.
Ms Graham undertook to follow up these concerns.
My Work Zone (MWZ)
The issues created by fundamental programming errors in MWZ were again a major topic at the meeting. There was a robust discussion with the Deputy Secretary on the issues faced by members attempting to negotiate MWZ. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøcalculates that members are losing about 25-30 per cent of their work time dealing with such issues.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøhighlighted its concerns that the inability to correctly submit claims for overtime in MWZ is tantamount to wage theft. Fraudulent entries in timesheets being encouraged as the recommended work around are completely inappropriate.
MWZ was introduced more than 12 months ago. It still doesn’t adequately serve the needs of members. It is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole when applying it to members in NPWS. It is not fit for purpose. The position of the É«ÀÇÉçÇøis that if you can’t fix MWZ then replace it with a system that works!
Work Health and Safety
NPWS has put in place procedures to allow contract paramedics to be used on the fireground when NSW Ambulance is unable to provide resources. The Paramedics have been trained in work safely around helicopters and heli-winching. This permits Paramedics to be inserted into helipads on the fireground. This will greatly improve safety for our members on the fire line.
Protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage on park
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøraised concerns around cultural safety for Aboriginal staff including alleged harm to Aboriginal objects on park as part of fire trail works without the relevant Aboriginal community’s involvement as per NPWS policy. The NPWS executives present at that stage of the meeting failed to link these concerns to cultural safety. This is despite the staff survey on cultural safety being conducted at that time.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøwill provide further information, including a recommendation that role descriptions for all staff in NPWS highlight the legislated need to give effect to the objects of the National Parks and Wildlife Act and protect all cultural values on lands managed by NPWS.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøbelieves that Plans of Management with vague regulations and controls on development activities (as watered down by the previous Coalition government) need to be strengthened to adequately protect both the cultural and natural heritage of our National Parks.
Administration Officer surveys; roles and workloads
The Admin Survey conducted 18 months ago was carried out at repeated requests from the É«ÀÇÉçÇøand revealed poor role definition and unmanageable workloads for these staff. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøcontinues to hold NPWS to account in resolving the main issues of poor role definition and inconsistencies across the state. The É«ÀÇÉçÇøis pleased that a second survey has been undertaken as it may reveal the ongoing impact of MWZ on administrative staff 12 months after the introduction of this system. This is a system which is significantly increasing the workload of our members undertaking administrative tasks.