The department this week announced it would have to reduce staff to reduce costs.
When asked how many staff could be lost at Deniliquin, and if there was any risk of the Deni office being closed as a result of the changes, a department spokesperson said it was “too early to say where the impacts would be”.
“That is still being determined by a process that only kicked off this week,” the spokesperson said.
It has been spurred on by Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) decisions, which the department says leaves it “in a financial situation with significantly reduced funding”.
In a statement shared on its website, WaterNSW said it would result in the department being unable to continue delivering all its current functions in the same way.
“To put the size of the challenge in numbers, we now need to find a further $80 million each year in cost savings,” the statement said.
“We have already deferred $860 million of capital works and cut $133 million in operational costs from our business over the forward five year period, but we need to take these additional steps to create future financial sustainability for our business, our customers and our communities.
“We are performing a fundamental reset of WaterNSW, becoming a leaner, smaller and more focused business, with formal consultation on planned changes commencing today.
“We are transforming our business by resetting our priorities, re-focusing on our core purpose, simplifying how we operate, and ensuring we are set up to deliver on our legal and statutory obligations.
“We will work hard to limit customer impacts throughout this period of transition – however, given the size of the funding gap, we may be unable to continue delivering our current functions, activities and projects in the same way.”
The department said an unfortunate consequence is that some staff would be impacted as part of this process.
“We are reducing the number of executives and senior managers by greater than 30 per cent, and we will reduce our total workforce by about 300 employees, commencing with a voluntary redundancy process.
“Despite this, WaterNSW will continue to have hundreds of expert employees based across regional NSW and Greater Sydney, where we are committed to retaining a strong local presence.
“This transformation will ensure WaterNSW can continue to deliver water when and where it matters.”
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