AMSA - Australian Marine Safety Authority

Question

1. The message from the Executive has been that the organization structure needs to change to support delivery of the organisational strategy 2026-2030. How was the organizational strategy developed? 2. When did the development of the organizational strategy commence? 3. What consultation has AMSA conducted with industry, AMSA staff and the AMSA Board prior to, during, and after the strategy was prepared? 4. Who had input to the organizational strategy? Was an external consultant engaged to assist AMSA in this process or was it developed solely by the AMSA Executive? 5. To what extent were the AMSA Senior Leadership Group (in APS terms the SES 1 co-hort) involved in the development of the organizational strategy? 6. Why were AMSA Staff not invited to provide input into the strategy? 7. How will the process of redundancies occur? 8. When was AMSA informed of the agency budget and ASL cap? (Note the budget papers indicate the ASL Cap was reduced by 2 people.) In his address to all Operations Staff that took place at 1300 hours Thursday 21 May, the Acting Executive Director Operations, Mr Greg Witherall, informed the meeting attendees that the ASL cap had reduced by 2. 9. In her video to all staff released Wednesday 20 May, one day earlier, the CEO informed all staff that the agency needed to reduce its FTE count by 30. What was the basis for this given messaging to staff had consistently been that reductions were due to impending reduction in ASL cap? 10. If budget is stated as the reason, how many Senior Manager positions or above (SES 1 equivalent & above) the most expensive cost to the organisation, have been eliminated from the revised structure and how many AMSA 1-8 level positions (APS 1 to EL2 Equivalent) have been eliminated? Please provide the total number for each level. 11. When did the AMSA Executive commence planning the revised structure? 12. In the past 6 months, prior to a restructure being announced to AMSA staff, the Manager Seafarer Certification and Coastal Pilotage, Mr Grant Judson, left AMSA to take up a role with industry. That role was filled by the Manager Vessel Operations without any EOI or recruitment process occurring. The Manager Vessel Operations position and indeed the entire Vessel Operations branch does not exist in the new structure and it appears (based on the alleged ''Draft'' organisation structure sent to all staff) that the Manager Vessel Operations will be appointed to the role permanently with no recruitment process occurring. 13. Similarly, the Manager Operations West announced he will join the Manager Operations South and the National Operations Manager - Central and retire before the revised structure is implemented. That is a total of four SES 1 level personnel added to Mr Michael Drake, former Executive Director Operations, an SES 2 level position all departing AMSA within a period of less than 6 months prior to any announcement of a restructure. (Note: the inference here is that they all knew about the restructure and the CEO and Executive were not being honest with AMSA staff). 14. The existing Manager Coastal Pilotage has been appointed as Manager Operations West, again with no EOI or recruitment process taking place. These are all SES 1 level roles with A$250k+ salaries, why is it that no recruitment process is being undertaken for either role? How is AMSA satisfying itself that the appointed individuals are the most suitable candidates for these roles without any recruitment process taking place at a time when the organisation structure and details of positions remain unfinalized? 15. I understand the Executive Director Policy and Regulation attended Singapore Maritime Week, an annual event held by the Singapore MPA in April this year (20-24 April). (Noting the answer to 11.) At this time, there was still no indication to AMSA staff that the organization restructure would result in a reduction of 30 FTE or that any alternative structure had been decided on. How is it possible then that the Executive Director Policy and Regulation could be advising other event attendees that the Policy and Regulation division would be losing a number of staff as would the Operations Division, even going as far as to detail the functions where cut backs would be made - for example port state control and international engagement? 16. When the restructure was announced to all staff the messaging was constantly that no decisions have been made however since the announcement a number of Managers have been actively discussing who they want to fill roles in their team and in some cases engaging in discussions with the individuals in question. How is this possible and on what authority are these discussions taking place if no decisions have been made? 17. Along similar lines, on the afternoon of Friday 29 May AMSA HR emailed staff who had been told their current role no longer existed in the new structure and they would be offered a redundancy or an alternative role in the organization which may be at a lower level a list of positions that have been identified for potential redeployment. This list included 8 new positions along with position descriptions for every position (both new and current), along with current and future division and section. Again, if no decisions have been made, why are staff being asked to prepare a CV and express interest in a role if no decision has been made whether the role will exist or not? How have AMSA developed a position description without a role being established or details of what the position will be required to do under a structure that has yet to be determined? 18. The email mentioned in 17 was sent on a Friday afternoon (26 May) with staff asked to respond by Wednesday 3 June. Monday was a public holiday in Western Australia and the ACT. On what basis did AMSA determine it is appropriate to ask staff to express interest in a position, or positions, that may, or may not, exist and, if they exist, where they would sit in a revised organization structure and do so in such a ridiculous timeframe? Noting there have purportedly been a number of revisions to the organization structure during the consultation period, why didn't AMSA include the latest organization chart with this email? 19. Based on the latest 'draft' organisation structure, what savings are AMSA expected to make in its annual operating costs? 20. Going by the CEO's statement in the video to all staff that the organisation needs to cut 30 FTE positions, if each employee contributes 1650 hours of work per year, a reduction of 30 FTE equates to 49,500 hours annually. To what extent was the data captured in the timesheet exercise used to determine a reduction of 30 FTE was required? 21. What services will be cut or scaled back as a result of the almost 50,000 working hours lost with 30 positions being axed?

Answer

Please see attached PDF.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000746.pdf (opens in a new tab)