Australian Space Agency headquarters at Lot 14 to be six months behind schedule
All hands are on deck to get Australia’s first space agency up and running, out of temporary accommodation and into Lot 14.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australia’s space agency is operating out of temporary offices in Franklin St, city, as builders race to complete its headquarters at Lot Fourteen.
The main office, at the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site on North Tce, was expected to be opened by mid year and house 20 full-time space agency staff.
The State Government confirmed the project was behind schedule, with 150 tradespeople working on site daily to try to complete the project by the end of the year.
The agency has also confirmed staffing numbers were yet to hit 20.
Instead, 10 full-time staff and four part-time staff have so far been employed.
A spokeswoman for Renewal SA, the government agency tasked with transforming the heritage-listed McEwin building, told the Sunday Mail significant resources were on site around the clock.
“The head managing contractor for the McEwin refurbishment, Hansen Yuncken, is working to an accelerated program of multiple shifts with a peak workforce of approximately 150 tradespeople per day,” the spokeswoman said.
“Practical completion of the Australian Space Agency tenancy is scheduled for late December 2019.”
South Australia’s bid to make Adelaide the home of the nation’s first space agency was regarded as a huge win in the lead-up to the May federal election. In December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Australian Space Agency would be in Adelaide by mid-2019 and was set to employ 20 full-time equivalent staff in the South Australian capital.
Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT had also put up spirited arguments to host the space agency.
MORE NEWS:
An agency spokeswoman, based in Canberra, said the agency was working with the State Government on arrangements for the headquarters.
“This includes the design and fit-out of the office space,” she said. “The space is expected to be available by the end of the year.”
The head of the agency, Dr Megan Clark, started operating from a temporary site within the AusIndustry offices, at the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS) on Franklin St, when the agency was announced by Mr Morrison.
“Since then, the agency has undertaken recruitment for a number of roles, to be permanently filled in Adelaide,” the spokeswoman said.
"We have 10 full-time positions and additional four staff on part-time arrangements in Adelaide.
“Dr Clark is employed as head of the Australian Space Agency on a part-time basis and her operating location is Adelaide.” She said the employment arrangements for other staff were confidential.
Deputy Labor leader Susan Close questioned the delay.
“It’s nearly a year since the announcement the Australian Space Agency would be headquartered in Adelaide, amid fanfare of a jobs bonanza,” she said.
“With SA recording the highest unemployment rate in Australia, South Australians are right to ask, when are we going to see the space jobs?”
When completed, the McEwin Building will house the publicly-accessible Mission Control and Space Discovery Centre on the ground floor.