But council administrator Tim Overall also wants a clearer vision on the policy and how it could affect Queanbeyan-Palerang.

He says the council supports moving smaller agencies to regional cities while retaining central government departments in Canberra.

Council hopes to attract a smaller federal agency to the city, which would form a significant part of the strategy to transform the CBD.

Council plans to build a new state-of-the-art office complex at a meeting in Bungendore. The headquarters will house council staff and include a smart hub aimed at public servants working remotely.

The administration building will only house council staff already based in Queanbeyan.

Queanbeyan was already home to the Australian Civil-Military Centre and it was agencies of similar sizes the administrator was keen to attract to the city.

"I'm not talking about any major transfer of departments, far from it," Mr Overall said.

"The national capital is where centralised government departments must be but there are a range of smaller government agencies which would not be a significant loss to the public service presence in the ACT.

"The relocation or location of a government agency here would have a significant benefit to Queanbeyan as a regional city and help activate the CBD."

Mr Overall was critical of the federal government's approach to decentralisation.

He said the recent announcements from Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash made it seem as though they were creating "policy on the run" and failing to address an issue with wide-ranging consequences.

He wants a clear vision to support regional growth and combat housing affordability.

"The federal government needs to be on the front foot," Mr Overall said.

"We need to look at establishing a federal commission with statutory powers to guide and implement the urban decentralisation and the development of regional cities.

"It needs to be structured, have a national policy, be part of federal government COAG initiative."