Senior public servants still live interstate despite WFH orders

Thousands of NSW public servants live interstate or overseas, with some senior bureaucrats still enjoying WFH privileges and taxpayer-funded travel despite orders back to the office.

More than 7400 NSW public servants live in other states or overseas, with some of the most senior bureaucrats getting taxpayer funded travel perks to travel to Sydney for work.

While some of that number legitimately live in border towns that service nearby NSW towns, Premier Chris Minns has said that some public servants may be “taking taxpayers for a ride”.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that of the more than 450,000 public servants that work for the NSW government, 1.65 per cent live interstate or overseas, which equates to more than 7400 employees.

One such senior bureaucrat is executive district director for South Western Sydney, Paul Garrahy, who works for the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) in Child Protection and Permanency.

Department of Communities and Justice executive district director Paul Garrahy frequently receives taxpayer-funded travel between his Sunshine Coast home and Sydney. Picture: LinkedIn

Under his working arrangements, Mr Garrahy is able to live on a small country acreage on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, less than an hour drive from Noosa Heads but nearly 1070 kilometres from his Parramatta head office.

It is understood the senior bureaucrat, who earns a more than $200,000 salary, receives taxpayer funded flights, cabcharges and accommodation to frequently travel to Sydney for work from his hinterland property. There is no suggestion that Mr Garrahy’s arrangement, which has been negotiated with the department, is improper.

Mr Garrahy bought the property in 2018 while he still worked for the Queensland government before taking a job with the NSW public service in 2020 during Covid.

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities and Justice would not comment on Mr Garrahy’s working arrangements for privacy reasons. They would not confirm how much was spent on the travel arrangements of its staff living interstate.

“A small number of DCJ employees live interstate, the majority of whom live in border towns,” the spokesperson said.

“DCJ has a Flexible Work Framework in place which is currently under review.”

In response to questions from this masthead as to the comfortable working from home arrangements still in place for some senior department bureaucrats, Premier Chris Minns said he would look at tightening the rules around interstate living.

“There are legitimate reasons that people may need to live interstate – including in border towns where people live across the border but work in NSW, or if a relative is unwell,” he said.

Premier Chris Minns acknowledged some public servants were taking taxpayers “for a ride”. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

“While my expectation is that this is the exception not the rule, clearly some people are taking NSW taxpayers for a ride.

“I have asked the secretary of the Premier’s Department to look into this and if the rules need to be tightened, we’ll look at it.”

Despite an edict from the Premier’s Department last year ordering public servants back to the office, many have still managed to retain work from home arrangements in other states.

In August last year, a circular demanding all departments update their procedures to bring workers back into the office, required that any arrangements that involve working from outside NSW needs to be approved by the head of agency. It also required approval from the secretary of the related department, which would be for a defined period and reviewed at regular intervals.

“The Premier’s Department Secretary is asking all NSW Government Department Secretaries to confirm that any interstate or offshore employee working arrangements are in line with the NSW Government circular,” a spokesperson from the Premier’s Department said.

Opposition leader Mark Speakman called on the Premier to crack down on senior bureaucrats living interstate claiming taxpayer-funded travel.

“Chris Minns governs by press release, deflects by inquiry, and only acts when he’s caught out. Taxpayers are funding interstate executives’ free rides, and his response is always ‘We’ll look into it,’” he said.

“He’s been in office for nearly two years — if it is a problem, why didn’t he fix it?”

Mr Garrahy declined to comment.

Originally published as Senior public servants still live interstate despite WFH orders