The United Services Union has slammed the City of Newcastle over its questionable and inconsistent recruitment process for two newly created Executive Manager roles at the Civic Theatre and City Hall, positions reportedly valued at over $200,000 per annum each.
USU Official Luke Hutchinson said the process lacked transparency, fairness, and any genuine merit-based selection which is seemingly in breach of the Local Government Act and Council’s own policies.
“This is a slap in the face to the hundreds of casual workers who keep these venues running,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“Over 70% of staff at the Civic Theatre and City Hall are employed casually, many are young, lower-paid workers who’ve dedicated years to these spaces.
“Yet Council appears to be quietly handing out permanent, high-paying roles to select individuals without a proper process.
“Casualisation is a big issue amongst our venue staff, they’d love to have permanent or permanent part-time roles but the Council insists they must stay casual, but here we have a situation where people are getting permanent full time roles on big money with no due process, it’s unfair and it doesn’t pass the pub test.”
The USU is demanding answers after Council failed to advertise the roles externally, instead conducting a brief six-day internal “Expression of Interest (EOI)” process overseen by a single executive.
The union says this contradicts previous Council practices where external advertising was deemed essential to attract a suitable pool of applicants.
“Council’s hypocrisy is staggering,” Mr Hutchinson added.
“They’ve insisted on external advertising for other roles, including lower-paid ones, but now they’re bypassing that entirely for senior positions. It reeks of favouritism and undermines the principles of equal opportunity.”
The Union has raised concerns that the EOI process is merely a formality, designed to rubber-stamp pre-selected appointments. With no formal consultation or reporting to the USU, the union is now preparing to escalate the matter to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
“This isn’t just a union issue, it’s a community issue,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“Our theatres and venues thrive because of passionate, hardworking staff. They deserve respect, transparency, and a fair go, not backroom deals.”
The USU calls on the City of Newcastle to halt the current process and recommit to a fair, open, and merit-based recruitment approach.
