‘New era’ as public sector jobs up for grabs in Coffs

Free from being ‘tethered to a desk in Sydney CBD’, jobs and people expected to flow north.

John Barilaro outlines the government's economic vision for the NSW regional areas at an event at Sanctus Brewery, Townsend.

It's the idea that regional Australian politicians have been pushing for decades and it may finally be happening, just not in the way it was first envisaged.

Billed as a 'new era' for State Government agencies in the regions, John Barilaro yesterday announced new 'regional workforce principals' which would see public sector jobs advertised with the words 'regional location encouraged'.

The commitment to increasing the proportion of senior government roles in regional NSW comes as most public sector employees have been working away from their city offices due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While the original vision for government decentralisation was based around the movement of entire departments to regional centres, the new principals enable jobs to be in effect 'location agnostic'.

"One thing we have learned in the past year is that you don't need to be tethered to a desk in Sydney CBD to do a variety of jobs," Deputy Premier John Barilaro said.

"These principles will help to create a more flexible sector, taking more of the decision making out of Sydney and ensuring a greater geographical spread of staff living in regional communities."

The move was backed by Business NSW regional head Kellon Beard who said it was good to see government had responded to the organisations calls - outlined in their Back on Track report - for greater support for jobs in regional areas.

Mr Beard anticipated that with the changes would come further investment in social and physical infrastructure to support the arrangements and "further boost the Mid North Coast as a great place to live and work".

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh was similarly pleased, noting that the "exciting news" would mean more job opportunities and greater career progression in regional areas.

"We all benefit from a more significant NSW Government workforce presence in our regions where local communities have the local knowledge and experience to make decisions about their own wants and needs," he said.

"While details about where people will be based are yet to be determined, I will be promoting the vibrant lifestyle, friendly community, and spectacular scenery and quality of life waiting to be enjoyed here on the Coffs Coast."

Coffs Harbour could be in the box seat as one of four regional working hubs, which include Armidale, Queanbeyan and Dubbo, which are expected to help NSW Government agencies grow their workforces in regional areas.

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