Public Service Association south-east regional organiser Tony Heathwood said the Market Street office would be left with just six staff under the changes.

Mr Heathwood said Wollongong trustees helped vulnerable and disadvantaged residents manage their financial affairs as well as oversee trusts and end-of-life services such as wills and deceased estates.

The downsizing of the regional office would mean a reduction in these services for the community – and could foreshadow its closure.

‘’Currently if you have a matter being managed by (NSWTG) you can go to the office and have a face-to-face conversation with the person who is managing your trust or financial services or the estate of your parent,’’ Mr Heathwood said.

‘’Once this goes ahead you’ll only be able to do that business by phone through the Parramatta office or online. So you lose that continuity of service, of having someone you know and recognise having individual care of the case.

‘’And it’s again forcing people to conduct business online when we know that there’s a lower usage of the internet among low income earners, and aged and disabled clients.’’

Mr Heathwood said around 150 trustee jobs were expected to be lost in the statewide reshuffle, which would see some regional branches closed and many functions shifted to the Parramatta call centre.

NSWTG was created in 2009. A spokewoman said the organisation needed to make significant changes to secure its future.

‘’If the changes are not made, the organisation will not be able to continue to deliver services as they stand today, nor meet the increase in demand from an ageing population,’’ she said.

She confirmed that the number of positions at the Wollongong branch would be reduced from 14 to 6. While there was no set end date for those jobs, she said all the changes would be rolled out over the next six to nine months. 

‘’Overall, our organisation will have more client facing staff than at present because all branch staff will provide face-to-face assistance; processes will be modernised and streamlined for quicker decision making and online services upgraded,’’ she said.

She said Illawarra residents would be able to access services by going into the Market Street branch, visiting the Service NSW outlet in Crown Street to be connected via phone or internet, or going online or calling a dedicated number themselves.

However Mr Heathwood said the decision to centralise many functions to Parramatta would adversely affect regional areas including Wollongong.

‘’This government talks about delivering services for people but its actions don’t demonstrate that,’’ he said.

‘’It is consistently removing services in a number of areas – (in March 2014) the Wollongong Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages office was closed, now the Wollongong branch (of NSWTG) is being downsized.

‘’Who’s to say that in a couple of years the government says there’s not enough business to keep the office open and it too has to close.

‘’Wollongong is the third biggest city in the state – and one with high unemployment – and again we have more job losses and further reductions in services.’’