Public Trustee staff have arced up over “unsafe work’’, forcing their union to intervene

CITY BEAT: There’s more drama playing out behind the scenes at the chronically-troubled Public Trustee of Queensland.

There’s more drama playing out behind the scenes at the chronically-troubled Public Trustee of Queensland.

Plenty of the 600-strong work force across the state complain that they are overburdened with tedious administrative tasks which undercut their ability to deal with clients.

As a result, these stressed-out staffers notified their managers this week that they would cease all “unsafe work’’ as part of an effort backed by the Together Union.

The union alerted Public Trustee boss Samay Zhouand in the middle of last month about the deep well of unhappiness among his troops.

Public Trustee boss Samay Zhouand.

But he only responded in writing last week, telling the union that the PT is on a “continuous improvement journey to meet our Customer First Agenda’’ and had taken steps over the past 12 months to help manage workloads.

The two sides met on Wednesday and made some headway in an attempt to defuse the standoff, with the union agreeing to back down for now.

“Given we are seeing a commitment from the Public Trustee to engage in a meaningful discussion about lowering workloads and providing relief to staff, we are asking members to return to normal duties and not enact any Workplace Health & Safety cease work plans as a sign of good faith,’’ union organiser Billy Colless wrote to his members.

JOBS BUST

A key player in the controversial job training sector backed by the state government has just pulled the plug on one of his companies.

Brisbane businessman Darrell Ballard tipped his solely-owned firm Job Coaching Australia Pty Ltd into liquidation this week.

Brisbane businessman Darrell Ballard tipped his solely-owned firm Job Coaching Australia Pty Ltd into liquidation this week.

Liquidator Nick Combis, from advisory outfit Vincents, told us Thursday the company had ceased trading profitably but he could provide few other details.

He said a preliminary assessment showed the company had “sorted out all their customers so no one has been left in the lurch’’.

Ballard did not return a call seeking comment.

But records show that he still runs other entities in the sector, including The Octopus Training Group Pty Ltd and state-licensed labour hire firm Recruitmentcareers.com.au Pty Ltd.

HOLE IN ONE

Despite a year from hell, the Brisbane Golf Club has just served up what could quite reasonably be described as a financial hole-in-one.

The Yeerongpilly-based club more than tripled net profit to $656,492, we just learned in the annual report for the year to September 30.

Brisbane Golf Club has just served up what could quite reasonably be described as a financial hole-in-one.

Remarkably, full year revenue excluding government incentives dipped just 9.4 per cent even though the clubhouse was closed during lockdown.

“That is an outstanding outcome when the extent of the disruption to our business model is understood,’’ president Phil Wikman noted.

With golf and tennis excluded from social restrictions at the height of the lockdown, plenty of the club’s 1500 members have flocked to the links.

Wikman tells us that timesheets for play are still getting booked out within minutes of release.

Nearly a decade after getting smashed in the 2011 floods, the club has bounced back solidly. Further upgrades are now on the agenda, including a new $1.5m irrigation system set to be installed starting in March.

[e-mail]