The acting head of the ACT's Emergency Services Agency has hosed down fears a reshuffling of the top brass could undermine a major restructure of the ACT's triple-0 call centre.
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ESA Commissioner Dominic Lane is set fill in as chief operating officer of Access Canberra for the next three months, prompting questions about who will preside over the strategic reform the agency is embarking on.
The head of the ACT Ambulance Service Jon Quiggin has also announced his retirement as the paramedics division undergoes a management shake-up.
Mark Jones will fill in for Mr Lane until July 18 before chief fire officer Mark Brown takes over until September. It is not yet clear who will lead the ESA for the remainder of Mr Lane's secondment.
Howard Wren will act for Mr Quiggin until a replacement is found.
About half a dozen ambulance managers would be redeployed into other jobs as part of the ongoing push to reform the ESA, sources have told Fairfax Media.
They alleged the proposal, announced at the end of June, caught ACTAS staff unaware.
However Transport Workers Union official Ben Sweeney dismissed the claims and said the restructure had been on the cards for at least 18 months.
"Obviously the managers affected by the changes are unhappy but the first commitment the commissioner gave us was that no jobs would be lost," Mr Sweeney said.
"It's a reporting line change so it will make the service more efficient. If anything these changes will mean greater transparency and accountability."
Mr Jones said the management restructure was subject to consultation with ESA staff and there was no plans to change the number of managers.
"There is a proposal to adjust some reporting lines and to shuffle a few people around but the day-to-day management of the service will generally remain unchanged. The views of staff involved are being gathered and the consultation process continues," Mr Jones said.
Mr Lane's secondment comes at a critical time for the ESA, as a controversial overhaul of its communications centre or Comcen begins.
Firefighter calltakers and ambulance dispatchers will be rolled into one team and civilians will replace some firefighters on the phone lines.
Firefighters formerly of the Comcen will eventually form a second crew for the Ainslie Fire Station.
Mr Jones said the movements in the executive was not a sign of internal unrest and they would not impact the reforms under way.
"It's really normal that in government many executives change roles frequently for the purpose of getting experience in other departments," Mr Jones said.
"We're fortunate we've got a lot of experienced officers we can use to fill those roles temporarily."
But United Firefighters Union secretary Greg McConville said that if something unfortunate happened, he was "not sure the coroner would be satisfied with that answer".
He said of the 23 senior officer positions in ACT Fire & Rescue, fewer than half were filled by the position holder.
"After 14 months of lobbying we had our first consultative meeting on Tuesday, but the commander in charge of Comcen was called away to attend a wall collapse," Mr McConville said.
"It is unacceptable that short staffing means that commanders are performing two roles at once, and at superintendent level, members have been covering several roles at a time."
