City of Palmerston workplace culture under the spotlight amid brain drain and ‘toxic’ allegation

A former employee of a Top End council says he took a shorter contract with less pay at a different council to save his mental health. It comes amid ongoing recruitment and retention issues for the council.

Palmerston Civic Plaza. Picture: City of Palmerston

A former employee of a Top End council says he took a shorter contract with less pay at a council further away from his residence to save his mental health, alleging the council has a “toxic” workplace culture.

The City of Palmerston has strongly refuted the claims, saying it was a “great place to work with a positive workplace culture,” and stressing that staff turnover was a “multifaceted” issue.

The ex-employee, who asked not to be identified, contacted the NT News in the wake of a previous report highlighting the council’s issues attracting and retaining staff, with a 19 per cent vacancy rate and attrition all but cancelling out new hires in the fourth quarter of last year.

Palmerston’s vacancy rate is much higher than comparable councils, with City of Darwin reporting that theirs was between 10–15 per cent and Alice Springs Town Council at historically low levels of less than three per cent.

Litchfield Council has a vacancy rate of less than 10 per cent.

The ex-employee alleged to the NT News that there was a reason Palmerston struggled to attract and retain staff: a “completely toxic workplace”.

“I left a [long-term] contract at Palmerston, which is five minutes from home, to take a six month contract 25 minutes from home for less pay and having to pay for parking in order to get out of that place,” he said.

“I know that they have a problem with staff going on stress leave, and I certainly took more sick leave in the short time I was there than I ever have before.”

The ex-employee claimed that bullying was a particular issue at the council.

Results of the City of Palmerston’s most recent staff engagement survey, taken in October 2023. Picture: Supplied

According to the council’s most recent staff engagement survey, which the council provided to the NT News, just 68 per cent of staff reported they were overall satisfied, down 3.8 percentage points from the previous survey.

By way of contrast, Katherine Town Council said its most recent survey found 85 per cent of staff were overall satisfied, while the corresponding figure for Alice Springs was 81 per cent, albeit from 2019.

A City of Palmerston spokeswoman said the fact the council sought feedback from its nearly 100 full-time equivalent twice a year via engagement surveys evidenced commitment to their wellbeing.

“We are committed to providing a positive and inclusive workplace environment which is why our pulse surveys are sent out regularly with actions being committed towards continual improvements,” she said.

She said it was not possible to read too much into the staff turnover rates due to the “transient nature of the Territory and the competitive market for skilled workers in the NT”.

The health and wellbeing of employees was taken “very seriously,” the spokeswoman said.

“We offer generous professional development opportunities to our staff as well as the opportunity to be involved in decision making, provide feedback regularly as well as internal leadership training to promote a respectful and collaborative work environment,” she said.