Up to 40 jobs at Aboriginal Hostels Limited will be moved across the country to towns in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The positions are new due to internal reform that has changed the nature of work, with staff in Canberra to be unaffected by the change.
The jobs will be moving to hostels across the network by December 2019, Minister for Decentralisation Bridget McKenzie said.
The jobs could end up in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Thursday Island, Mount Isa, Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs, Perth, Kalgoorlie, South Hedland, Broome and Derby.
"The new positions are part of the significant reforms to the organisation under the stewardship of Dr Sue Gordon to make AHL a more customer-focused organisation that prioritises front-line operations across AHL’s hostel network," Minister McKenzie said.
The agency had 332 staff in 2017-18, and was granted an extra 56 positions in the 2018-19 budget after a reduction of staff in the previous budget. It has 47 accommodation facilities across the country and runs as a not for profit.
It is believed that Aboriginal Hostels Limited was one of the seven business cases that the minister's office had been considering for moving parts of their operations to the regions.
The announcement comes just weeks after the government announced 50 jobs at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority would soon be based in Coffs Harbour in a new regional headquarters. In a similar strategy to the Aboriginal Hostels Limited move, the plans involve opening new positions in the new office and no forced relocations.
It's a different strategy to the controversial Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, where the agency's head office is moving to Armidale, with most staff to move or be made redundant and just 40 to stay in Canberra.
