Southern Region Water and Sewerage Reform

Will  Corporate Support be seconded from Councils; and Hobart Water, for e.g. Stores Personnel, Radio Operators, Payroll, HR. and Cleaners?

Corporate support for the new Regional Water and Sewerage Corporations will be provided, at least in part, by the new Common Services Corporation.

The Common Services Corporation is required to be set up under the new Water and Sewerage Corporations Act 2008. The Act states that the objectives of the Common Services Corporation are:

A. to assist the (three) Regional Corporations to fulfil their principal objectives by providing, or arranging for the provision of, services to the Regional Corporations, which may include one or more of the following:

1. payroll services;
2. human resources services;
3. information technology services;
4. billing services;
5. financial and accounting services;
6. any other service which may be of assistance to the Regional Corporations;

B. to be a successful business and, to this end –

1. to operate its activities in accordance with good commercial practice; and
2. to maximise sustainable returns to its members;

C. to be available to provide services to third parties, including councils, on a commercial basis.

This means that the 3 regional water and sewerage corporations will be required, by legislation, to provide, or arrange to have provided, at least some of the sort of Corporate Support that you mention.

All of Hobart Water’s existing staff will become part of the new Common Services Corporation or the Water and Sewerage Corporation in the South, just as all the other regional Bulk Water Authorities staff will become part of either the Common Services Corporation or their own region’s Water and Sewerage Corporations.

This means that the new organisations will have some Corporate Support Capacity at the time they are established.

Some Council Corporate support staff that currently have significant involvement in Water and Sewerage may transfer to the Common Services Corporation or the Regional Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Those staff that are already 100% involved in Water and Sewerage activities will transfer, those that have less involvement at present may or may not transfer, individual cases will vary.

It should be remembered that the Councils will also continue to require significant Corporate Support Capacity to continue to operate their own organisations once the transfer of Water and Sewerage has been completed.