NSW public servants banished from Sydney CBD, sent to Western front

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Public servants fed up with long and sweaty train journeys into central Sydney could soon have less to complain about after the New South Wales government announced plans to secure them new office space in city’s western suburbs as it relocates over 250 administration jobs from the central business district.

The state government has started scouting for rented office space in the outer suburbs of Liverpool and Penrith to house staff as part of its wider plan to ‘decentralise’ its operations, a move it hopes will be followed by industry.

The latest shift is part of a much bigger plan to shunt 3,000 public service jobs to the West as part of a key promise by the Coalition to spread more services and employment opportunities into areas well outside the CBD where travel to work has become increasingly expensive and time consuming.

The government has pledged a so-called ‘decade of decentralisation’ where NSW agencies traditionally clustered in city office blocks will be dispatched into the outer suburbs and regional areas.

The government’s end goal will be to remove a whopping 100,000 square metres of government office space out of the city and into regional centres by 2021. According to the state government, the office acreage on the move is the equivalent of more than 14 football fields.

For the Liverpool and Penrith centres, the government is now approaching the market through an expression of interest campaign to lease around 5,000 square metres of office space.

Parramatta has also been earmarked for the relocation of public service offices to Western Sydney, but it will not be included in the initial round.

The cyclical push away from the city represents a significant reversal of the previous government’s attempt to gain efficiencies by consolidating government operations and office accommodation through so-called super departments.

However one benefit for the government is that as new property outside the city comes onto the market, it is often cheaper to run because of greater energy efficiency and more competitive rental deals offered to anchor tenants who in turn attract more potential commercial lessees.

The latest search for new office space out west is being coordinated by Minister for Finance and Services Dominic Perrottet and Minister Assisting the Premier on Western Sydney Stuart Ayres, while the leasing of suitable office accommodation will be managed by the state’s property agency Government Property NSW.

Mr Perrottet said the strategy of decentralisation will not only help stimulate regional development, but also manage the “predicted growth across the state”.

A big selling point for the government’s campaign to move its employees out west is that it will be a boost for local retails and small business owners, as Mr Ayres said the move will bring more jobs and opportunities for people right across Sydney’s west.

“Public servants from several agencies, including Family and Community Services and Sport and Recreation, will move into the new accommodation,” Mr Ayres said.

He said this is the first of many more moves that will eventually lead to public servants occupying around 40,000 square metres of office space in Liverpool and Penrith.

According to the government, public servants will relocate to new premises within the next two years as current leases approach expiry.

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4 thoughts on “NSW public servants banished from Sydney CBD, sent to Western front

  1. A good idea. With all the factories closing, we need to provide alternative employment solutions for the people of the South-West of Sydney. The problem is, are the people who used to work in factories qualified or willing to work in public service jobs?

  2. The overwhelming majority of public servants working in Sydney CBD have a reasonable journey by public transport. Sweaty, perhaps, but easier and almost certainly cheaper than by car- unless they use a government car and the taxpayer pays for petrol and maintenance.

    If they are shifted to Liverpool or Penrith, in addition to the journey to Central they will face the journey out to the west, unless they are lucky to live in those areas or Parramatta. They will not be happy. I foresee a very large number trying to transfer or even resigning – perhaps that is the idea.

    Certainly the State will save money – cheaper rents, and if the buildings are new, then possibly more efficient. But from experience, having been shifted from a badly designed building, where we could get reasonable offices, to a badly designed newer building with open plan layout, it is easier to cram more people into the available space – everything will be – “That is what the minimum standard says, so that is what you will get!”

  3. Developing a very fast train connect between Newcastle and Sydney via the Northen Beaches would give better options for decentralization into the Newcastle area. As the Newcastle option for Sydney’s second airport is the best as it will be up and ready sooner and have substantially different weather patterns and 40 min rail transfer if an aircraft needs diverting to an alternate airport.
    So some of the decentralization must include a significant number of staff being Newcastle bound.

  4. We have one of the big problem that the people who used to work in factories qualified to work in public service jobs.However one benefit for the government is that as new property outside the city comes onto the market, it is often cheaper to run because of greater energy efficiency and more competitive rental deals offered to anchor tenants who in turn attract more potential commercial lessees. Thanks a lot for sharing this content with us.

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