The Queensland Government Chief Information Office (QGCIO) is investigating different ways agencies can offer public servants workplace flexibility within a decentralised office environment.
The Flexible Workplaces Initiative addresses the increasing need to provide alternative workplace models that allow public servants to perform part of their duties away from their normal work location.
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 government's investment in the Flexible Workplace Initiative “…will help take the work to the people, not the people to the work.”
The Flexible Workplaces Initiative will assist the Queensland Government to respond to the increasing emphasis on mitigating 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 part of the initiative, the QGCIO and the Environmental Protection Agency have partnered to establish a multi-agency telecentre trial 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 per week.
The actions of the Flexible Workplaces Initiative are designed to:
- examine cost, productivity and service delivery benefits for government
- examine work and life benefits for employees
- provide solutions to challenges (e.g. ICT, facility management) in providing flexible workplaces
- develop a framework from which future flexible workplaces could be designed.
The Flexible Workplaces Initiative is being implemented by the QGCIO to leverage the sizable investment in the government‘s information and communication technology.
For more information on the Flexible Workplaces Initiative, please email QGCIO@qld.gov.au