APVMA recruits new staff and plans salary bonus for Armidale move

The funds are likely in order to assist staff to set up their new household while still managing ongoing responsibilities in back Canberra during their first year of relocation.

The regulatory authority says it has also received more than 200 applications to fill vacancies emerging as some staff opt to quit the agency rather than move to the NSW Northern Tablelands.

The applications follow a major recruitment drive started late last year.

Senate Estimates hearings this week revealed 48 staff left the APVMA during the past six months, including about 20 per cent of the agency's regulatory scientists,

Chief executive officer, Kareena Arthy, described relocating the APVMA’s regulatory business as “a challenge the agency is working through collaboratively with its staff and stakeholders”.

“Relocating is not as simple as picking up our current business and moving it to Armidale,” she said.

APVMA had initiated an extensive program of business transformation and planning to support its relocation by 2019.

“There are a number of details regarding our workforce, infrastructure and operating model we need to work through before we can be certain about how the APVMA will move,” Ms Arthy said.

These details included how to “support our people and how we will operate in Armidale”.

“It’s a big task, but one that the APVMA is well positioned to manage,” she said.

Some public servants were already choosing to find alternative employment, but even more had so far chosen to stay and help to transform the business is the relocation progressed.

The APVMA had already attracted a number of “highly-skilled regulatory scientists and other specialists” to work in Armidale since beginning its recruitment campaign in December.

Recruitment would continue, particularly focusing on attracting regulatory scientists.

Opportunities will be promoted on the agency’s website as positions became available.

The agency had also started a consultative process with staff to develop policies which reflected the APVMA’s commitment to support its staff in the lead up to and during relocation.

“We understand not everyone will choose to relocate to Armidale so we are looking at ways to retain our people as long as possible,” Ms Arthy said.

“We’re proposing a range of incentives to support staff to stay and these are outlined in our draft Retention policy, which includes things such as professional development opportunities, career management and employee bonuses.”

As the details of APVMA’s relocation plans were finalised, information about staff support, relocation and retention policies and business transformation would be available on the authority’s website

Ms Arthy said management would work the staff consultative committee and other parties to ensure the support proposed in these policies was appropriate.