Ratepayers save millions of dollars as council embarks on biggest workforce change

The city’s second largest workforce is to undergo its biggest restructure in recent decades. Find out about the big changes.

Gold Coast City Council CEO Tim Baker – saving ratepayer dollars with restructure.

Senior roles will be merged and areas of expertise centralised at City Hall as new details emerge about the biggest restructure in recent decades of Gold Coast City Council’s workforce.

Jobs of permanently employed 4000 staffers are safe but the Bulletin has learnt there will be “consolidation” of senior roles on executive contracts.

It is understood this will impact on up to 20 executives, but there are some vacancies which can be filled by those likely to lose their current positions.

New directorates will be created to avoid duplication under the draft restructure tasked to new CEO Tim Baker, with the brief of saving millions of ratepayer dollars.

Gold Coast City Council CEO Tim Baker – saving ratepayer dollars with restructure.

Some roles like in IT will see those expert employees centralised in one department rather than spread across directorates. A key aim is to improve customer service.

Councillors after an hour-long presentation by Mr Baker at a full council meeting at the Evandale Chambers on Tuesday were unanimous in support of the changes.

The recommendation noted there will be“some consolidation of executive contract roles and that no award-based employees will be made redundant”.

Staffers were told of the changes before council released details to the media.

Mayor Tom Tate, outside the meeting, said the draft restructure of the City of Gold Coast administration would improve customer experience and save $5 million per year.

He said the sweeping reform was the most significant change to the organisation since

1995 when Albert Shire and Gold Coast Council merged.

“Every decision in the creation of this draft structure has been focused on how we can improve our services to the Gold Coast community,” Mr Tate said.

Council restructure plan for workforce discussed at Evandale Chamber. Pic by Richard Gosling.

“This will enable us to allocate an extra $5 million a year into infrastructure, programs and initiatives that are important to the ratepayer.”

Mr Tate said the new structure would also see a new department dedicated to environment, heritage and resilience.

“You have told us time and time again that the natural environment is what is most important to you, and we have listened,” he said.

Mr Baker said the new structure featured seven new departments each with a clear mandate.

“Importantly, there will be no job losses among our 4000 staff employed under the Local Government Award as part of this proposed organisational structure,” Mr Baker said.

“This is about putting the right functions in the right teams to get the best outcome for the community.”

Mr Baker said the City workforce had been loud and clear about the need for change.

“A staff culture survey conducted last year clearly identified that the current structure was a fundamental barrier to creating a cohesive work environment; and resulted in silos and significant duplication of work,” he said.

Mr Baker said the changes had been informed by 12 months of internal workshops with staff, industry analysis and best practice advice from external consultants.

Staff received an email of the draft structure once it was endorsed by Council. A five-week consultation period will begin on June 7 at which time staff will be provided the full detail of the change.

“We want to get this right, so it’s important we capture as much feedback from our workforce as possible,” Mr Baker said.

The new departments are: Infrastructure Gold Coast; Service Gold Coast; Environment, Heritage and Resilience; Planning and Regulation; Invest Gold Coast; Strategy, People and Performance and; Business Services.

Several changes have occurred in senior roles since former CEO Dale Dickson departed in 2021. At least seven senior managers had left since 2020.

Mr Baker since his appointment undertook the first cultural review at council in a decade.

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