The State Revenue Office and the Ballarat relocation project 2006-33.1

In May 2001, the Victorian State Government announced its decision to relocate 40 percent of the State Revenue Office’s functions to Ballarat, a regional centre 110km north-west of Melbourne. Two hundred of the SRO’s 450 employees were affected by the proposal, which met with a high level of resistance from staff, and protest from the union. Despite this and only 33 staff members choosing to relocate, the new Ballarat facility was successfully up and running as scheduled. One month after the launch, Paul Broderick was made the SRO Commissioner. He was faced with two different offices with two very different climates. Broderick had to reconcile the Melbourne and Ballarat officers as well as deal with ongoing union action of involuntary redundancies.

This case explores organisational change and decentralisation. The first part of this case details the relocation project from its inception until Broderick’s appointment.

Read more:

• The Epilogue describes Broderick’s five strategic pillars for the organisation.