The proposed fire team reshuffle set to trim a quarter of (vacant) roles

Welcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: a shake-up for some in the Fire Department, free-text feedback and child safety watchdog cash questions.

The phrase “proposed organisational change” is enough to raise the hackles of most working in a place large enough to support such an occasional reshuffling.

Particularly in an environment, across the Queensland public sector, with agencies scratching for all the cash they can. So spare a thought for some of the folks over in Commissioner Steve Smith ’s Queensland Fire Department.

The change in question involves the Assets Services team within chief operating officer Dr Rebecca Denning ’s Strategy and Corporate Services division, responsible for things including the vehicle fleet, uniforms, logistics, capital works and building management.

Not insignificant stuff to ensure those holding the literal hose can do the work they need to do when a house, business, or large swathe of the state is in flames.

So what’s on the cards? An internal document outlining the proposal, which has found its way to the Circus tent, puts the headline at 13 vacant roles being “removed” from the 47-person organisational chart of the group under executive director Adam Green .

“It has been identified that these roles may no longer be required, and other identified roles have been varied to accommodate the duties and responsibilities of the 13 vacant positions,” the proposal states. A tale almost as old as time itself.

The change is said to stem from a recently consulted Asset Operating Model shift, and will also result in some subsequent reshuffling of the team – including the relocation of multiple roles from Kedron, and even one from Caloundra, to the department’s shiny new Albion HQ .

While the shake-up is out for the required consultation with staff and their union (Together) as we write this, one Circusgoer has given far from a glowing review of consultation efforts to-date.

A final proposed “way forward” is due to be laid out by mid-October. It’s all certainly one way to find the “efficiencies and cost savings” Smith flagged in an all-staff email back in April amid this column’s revelations of new (not quite) hiring freeze efforts .

At that stage, he assured the push was happening at “all levels”, with even a review of the staffing model “across the executive’s offices” said to be underway.

We’ve reached out to the department’s media team for an explanation of the asset team proposal – and an update on that executive review – but were yet to get a response.

Public Circus’ inaugural Working for Queensland survey callout has yielded a number of responses already, so we figured we’d share some initial anonymous (free-text) feedback.

The most curious being the word from one tipster that they had got to the end of a Department of Housing and Public Works survey to find … no free-text feedback sections.