The COVID-19 pandemic has given Wollongong the perfect opportunity to prove its worth as a commercial hub for government offices, Wollongong's Deputy Lord Mayor says.
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Councillor Tania Brown will this week urge other councillors to support a motion to urge the NSW Government to consider moving some of its offices to the city.
While talk of enticing more government agencies to move to Wollongong has been on the cards for years, she said the changes in the workforce during the pandemic had created the right environment for the city to benefit.
"There's a lot of conversation happening right now about the future of work," she said. "And anecdotally, we know there's a lot of people who are working from home now who are not commuting to Parramatta or the Sydney CBD.
"I don't believe we will be working from home forever, because I think by not being in the office, we miss more than the water cooler conversation - we miss collaboration and creativity.
"But I do I think in the future we will work a few days in the office and some at home, and if people don't want to be going to crowded places like Parramatta and the CBD, then Wollongong is a safe middle ground."
Until we get that vaccine, our work lifestyle will be changed. So if we can capture some of that market we can reach our target to attract 10,500 new jobs to Wollongong.
- Cr Tania Brown
Cr Brown said also Wollongong was "safer" than Sydney in the COVID-19 environment, and had 58,000 sqm of A-grade office space under construction or in the pipeline.
"If the office is in a regional centre, away from the urban density of a capital CBD, it is assumed that the risk of community transmission of COVID is reduced," she said.
In her notice of motion, Cr Brown will ask that the council's general manager and senior executive meet with state ministers and heads of departments reignite a "regionalisation program".
Local peak bodies will be called on to assist this advocacy program, which will help the council to achieve the goals set out in the city's Economic Development Strategy.
She said the government would not need to move entire departments to Wollongong, but could set up "hybrid" shared spaces for government agencies to cater for regional workers.
"It's for us to put our hand up and really capitalise on what we've got and how we can help the government," she said. "We need to seize the opportunity that COVID has given us to start to really advocate to government agencies. Until we get that vaccine, our work lifestyle will be changed. So if we can capture some of that market we can reach our target to attract 10,500 new jobs to Wollongong."
Cr Brown will ask that councillors be updated by staff about the success of the advocacy program in a briefing held by June 2021.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
