Moreton Bay Council will create more than 130 new jobs in its 2020/21 Budget
More than 130 new jobs will be created at a southeast Queensland council after a review found it was understaffed. Here’s how you can land a position.
Moreton
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A QUEENSLAND Council is about to trigger a “jobs boom” with more than 130 new positions to be advertised, including entry level jobs.
With national unemployment tipped to reach about 10 per cent in the June quarter resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, job creation has rarely been more important than it is right now.
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Moreton Bay Council’s 2020/21 Budget will directly employ at least 130 people as well as support up to 3000 others through its capital works program.
The new jobs are the result of a recommendation in last year’s internal organisational review that found it was understaffed compared with other councils.
“We’ll be employing around 130 new staff across our call centres, maintenance teams, in administration, and on the front line with our regulatory services crew among others,” Mayor Peter Flannery said.
“This is in addition to the 60 newly created roles we recruited in the 19/20 financial year.
“This includes an upgraded graduate program, providing opportunities for local university students to work within a council operational area relevant to their studies.”
The council is currently advertising a number of undergraduate opportunities across a range of specialised areas.
These included public safety, drainage and waterways, coastal planning, asset maintenance and parks and recreations planning.
The graduate positions are for up to 12 months paying up to $28.75 per hour.
The council is also driving more jobs through its 2020/21 Capital Works program, which will be announced on Friday.
“We must drive our own economic recovery, so keep watching for job vacancies on our website because this is a Council that’s putting words into action,” Cr Flannery said.
“In fact just last week I met with some of the people we recently employed in our new street and signage maintenance crews, giving six unemployed locals a job when they needed it most.”
The council recently implemented a “Local Preference” policy which weighted favour towards local companies when issuing tenders.
“It means wherever possible, contracts worth $50,000 or less must be awarded to a local business in the first instance,” Cr Flannery said.
“For contracts greater than $50,000 a local preference weighting of 15 per cent will be applied to the tender evaluation scores.”
An organisational review conducted last year by Grassroots Connections Australia found a range of issued in the council, including a staffing shortfall and “exceptionally high” staff turnover rates at 18.5 per cent — three times the southeast Queensland average of 6 per cent.
The council has since been working to implement recommendations in the report to address these issues.
“As a council, we’re responsible for managing ratepayer dollars and I know ratepayers want to see their money backing local business, creating local jobs, building new local projects and improving our local lifestyle in ways that will get our economy back on track,” Cr Flannery said.
Council job vacancies can be viewed HERE.