Education Qld restructure: Most senior roles still vacant

The vast majority of senior Queensland education bureaucrats are still acting in their roles after a departmental overhaul.

Queensland’s education department has undergone a major restructure – but the vast majority of senior bureaucrats are acting in the roles.

Six of the seven key deputy or assistant director-general positions are yet to be permanently filled, including the new associate director-general job which was created after the early childhood and state schools portfolios merged.

A review of the department’s operations was launched early this year by director-general Michael De’Ath – just months after he started in the role – to look at how it could better support “excellence and equity” across frontline services.

More than 450 pieces of feedback were received after the draft structure was released on June 3.

The titles of several of the key positions have been tweaked when compared to the structure which was publicly available at the end of April.

Director-General Education Queensland Michael De'Ath. Photo: Supplied

The office of Policy, Performance and Planning has changed to Policy, Performance, International and Intergovernmental.

Finance and Assurance Services has changed to Finance, Procurement and Facilities.

People and Corporate Services is now People, Information and Communication Services. Meanwhile an office for First Nations Strategy and Partnerships has been created, reporting directly to the director-general.

The titles of the Office of Industrial Relations and Infrastructure Services have remained the same.

The only key position that isn’t vacant is deputy director-general for infrastructure services. An Education Department spokesman said merit-based recruitment processes were being undertaken.

The department insisted it had a “clear and ongoing emphasis on rural and remote” schools despite none of the key titles directly referring to rural and remote.

This is compared to the structure that was publicly available at the end of April which included a “State Schools – Rural, Remote and International” position which was two reporting lines from the Director-General.

The department also denied that early childhood and state schools had merged despite there no longer being two people overseeing the areas.

“Their critical work has been enhanced and further supported through the creation of the associate director-general position,” the spokesman said.

“Similarly, steps have been taken to make more transparent the ongoing priority and importance of our work in the disability, rural and remote spheres.

“The updated structure ensures the two assistant directors-general who will provide ongoing leadership for these functions have titles that ensure no misunderstanding of the significance and primacy of outcomes in the disability, inclusion, rural and remote areas and the full continuation of their existing programs of work.”

No external consultants were engaged for the restructure.