Department of Education bureaucrats’ termination payout package revealed at ‘halfway’ mark

As part of a promise from NSW Premier Chris Minns to reduce the government’s senior executive workforce, millions have been spent on payouts to staff exiting.

Fat cat bureaucrats in the Department of Education received more than $5 million in golden handshakes, after their jobs were terminated amid a government-wide push to reduce the number of highly-paid public servants.

In answers to questions taken on notice at last month’s parliamentary budget estimates, released on Wednesday, education secretary Murat Dizdar confirmed 28 public service senior executives have been sacked since July 1 last year, and were paid out $200,000 each on average for their troubles.

The bureaucrats were eligible for the compensation payments totalling $5.64 million under regulation 39 of the Government Sector Employment Act, which entitles senior executives to “an amount equal to the executive’s remuneration package for a period of 38 weeks” or the remainder of their contract if less than 38 weeks, if they are terminated for any reason other than unsatisfactory performance or misconduct.

“Like every agency, I’m bound by the Government’s target of a reduction of 15 per cent in PSSE (public service senior executives) and I’m working to deliver on that,” Mr Dizdar told the education estimates hearing in August.

“I’m about halfway through delivering that requirement.”

Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar appearing before budget estimates in August 2024. Picture: Supplied

In the lead-up to the 2023 election now-Premier Chris Minns claimed a 15 per cent reduction in the number of senior executives across the public service would save the state $500 million, however costings of the policy assumed a ‘natural attrition’ of the roles.

The terms of the GSE Act have since come under review by the Cabinet Office, following revelations three sacked media advisers to NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb had been paid out nearly $700,000 combined in a two-year period.

NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb’s sacking of three media advisers over two years prompted a review of the Government Sector Employment Act. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The Department of Education, meanwhile, is facing opposition from the NSW Teachers Federation over its internal restructure, which will see 245 non-school based teacher roles scrapped, including over 100 vacant jobs.

A spokesman for the Department of Education guaranteed “no teacher will lose their job” through the restructure process.

“Expert teachers are returning to schools where they are most needed, working with our students, and the department will continue to deliver expert teaching support to schools,” he said.

However, the union lamented the decision as a failure to take advantage of the Department’s economies of scale to support its “overwhelmed” classroom teachers, describing the cuts as “a devastating blow” and calling on the Education Minister to intervene.