The Queensland Government Chief Information Office (QGCIO) has been investigating the benefits of providing flexible workplaces where public servants can perform part of their duties away from their normal work location. The Flexible Workplaces Initiative is being implemented by the QGCIO to leverage the government’s sizable investment in ICT.

This initiative will assist the Queensland Government to respond to increasing traffic congestion, the costs of central business district (CBD) office accommodation, climate change and attracting and retaining public service employees in a tight labour market.

As noted by the Premier in her speech to the ICT industry on 26 June 2008: 'By using [IT and] telecommunications, we can reduce the number of vehicles on our roads, cut congestion, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce Queensland’s carbon footprint.'

The Premier also noted the government’s investment in the Flexible Workplace Initiative 'will help take the work to the people, not the people to the work.'

Coupled with the government’s recent announcement to move approximately 5,600 public servants out of the CBD, the QGCIO has been working closely with the Queensland Government Accommodation Office to explore the opportunities offered by flexible workplaces to address the implications of the government’s decentralised office accommodation initiatives.

As part of this approach the QGCIO is exploring different ways of offering public servants workplace flexibility within a decentralised environment.

The QGCIO and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have established a multi-agency telecentre pilot located in the Ipswich Courthouse. Operational since June, this flexible workplace is allowing participating CBD based employees to significantly reduce their commuting time by working from this alternative office for one or two days a week.

Currently taking part in the telecentre pilot Stephen Lazzaroni from the EPA said that on his teleworking days he looked forward to not having a 45 minute trip to work and was better able to concentrate on doing work without the usual interruptions which produces a better result. Stephen’s manager Nicole Mulholland agreed: 'With less disruptions Stephen is able to do his work more efficiently.'

This pilot facility is an important aspect of the government’s Flexible Workplaces Initiative and its exploration of alternative workplace models as opposed to the traditional single workplace model.

Key objectives of the Flexible Workplaces Initiative are to:

• establish benefits for government and agencies, including:
  
  • improved employee attraction and retention
  • decreased accommodation costs
  • increased employee productivity and satisfaction
  • decreased trips to and from outlying areas to the Brisbane CBD
• validate benefits for employees, including:
  • flexibility that allows for a better work and life balance
  • reduced commuting and time costs
• promote cooperation between relevant government
  • stakeholders, and enable solutions to provide a flexible
  • workplace environment across the sector (e.g. ICT, facility management, people management)
• develop a framework from which future flexible workplaces could be designed.

For more information on the Flexible Workplaces Initiative, please contact Dennis Hyde on 3239 6998 or dennis.hyde@qld.gov.au, or Stuart Taggart on 3224 5868 or stuart.taggart@qld.gov.au.