Part 2—Output 1: Core Department
Output overview
Organisational change and restructure
The closure of the Access Card Program and the resulting reprioritisation of activities for the Portfolio have had a major impact on the priorities, structure and size of the Department.
At the end of November 2007, there were 136 staff employed in the Core Department working on the Access Card Program. Figure 6 shows the Core Department’s organisational structure at that time. Following the closure of the Access Card Program, staff numbers were reduced, and by 30 June 2008, 65 former Access Card staff remained in the Core Department and were placed in the new structure.
As at 30 June 2008, the Core Department was structured around six divisions as shown in Figure 7. Work to reorganise the Core Department included building up expertise in areas related to service delivery reform in line with the new Government’s priorities. Working groups were established to focus on key areas of potential reform. This transitional structure preceded the major organisational restructure that came into effect on 1 July 2008, as noted in Part 1, ‘Portfolio Department of Human Services’, and shown in Figure 5.
As part of the transitional structure, the following changes were made to the divisions that formerly made up the Office of the Access Card:
- the Chief Technology Architect Division absorbed the majority of staff within the Implementation and Procurement Division;
- the Business Division joined with the Stakeholder Engagement component of the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement (CSE) Division to form the Business and Stakeholder Engagement Division;
- the Service Delivery Operations Division amalgamated the communication component of CSE into the Marketing and Communication branch;
- the Program Management Division absorbed a number of staff from the Implementation and Procurement Division to help with the closure and reporting of the Access Card Program; and
- the Access Card Legal branch was integrated into the Department’s legal team.
A significant number of staff on temporary transfer to the Office of Access Card returned to their home agencies.
As part of this process, the Department worked to retain important expertise from within the Access Card Program for work on other areas of priority, most significantly service delivery reform.
In order to manage the transition to a new organisational structure, and in particular the reduction in staff numbers, an Organisational Change Unit was established. This unit worked with staff to find alternative employment across the public service, liaising closely with the Australian Public Service Commission’s Career Transition and Support Centre from its institution in May 2008. By 30 June 2008, in addition to the 65 former Access Card staff who were placed in the new structure:
- eight staff had resigned from the Australian Public Service (APS), including to take up positions outside the service;
- eight staff who were on temporary transfer had returned to their home departments;
- four non-ongoing staff reached the end of their contracts;
- 44 staff moved to jobs in other Australian Government agencies;
- two staff who were not seeking redeployment to another APS position were declared excess; and
- one staff member took a redundancy.
As at 30 June 2008, work was continuing with four staff to achieve redeployment elsewhere in the APS.
Figure 6 Core Department—organisational structure when Access Card Program was operational
(Open larger version of Organisational structure in seperate window)