About the OAMF

Why have it?

The cost of office accommodation is the second-highest recurrent cost component for Queensland Government agencies (agencies) after staff salary and wages costs and represents a significant component of their service delivery costs.

The area of government accommodation managed by the Department of Energy and Public Works (EPW) is in the order of 1 million m². EPW manages a total rental revenue stream in relation to this accommodation in the order of $500 million.

Effectively managed government office accommodation can contribute to the successful achievement of the Queensland Government's priorities and the delivery of government services.

The primary purpose of the Office Accommodation Management Framework (OAMF) is to support agencies in all aspects of their acquisition, management and utilisation of office accommodation. In addition, the OAMF:

• supports the use of best-practice methodologies in accommodation management and establishes a structured approach to accommodation planning, space management, fitout, accommodation use and accommodation change
• promotes consistency, equity, cost-efficiency, sustainability and accountability in all phases of accommodation management and aims to achieve the strategic and operational alignment of government accommodation with the delivery of government services to the community
• is designed to achieve a better workplace for government employees, enhance delivery of government services and generate savings in the overall cost of government office and commercial accommodation.

What is it?

The OAMF incorporates processes for office accommodation planning, space management, fitout and occupancy. The OAMF suite of documents comprises:

1. the OAMF master document, which defines the purpose, scope and objectives of the framework and establishes roles and responsibilities and the OAMF 4 operating principles
2. guidelines for planning, space, fitout and occupancy
3. practice notes, agreements, forms, sample documents and references.

The OAMF was approved by the Government Office Accommodation Committee (now known as Deputy Directors-General Accommodation Group) for implementation on 19 November 2004.

The OAMF applies to:

• Queensland Government departments, as defined in Section 8 of the Financial Accountability Act 2009
• Queensland Government statutory authorities, that are wholly or partly funded through the Queensland State Budget
• Queensland Government commercialised business units.

What is it supposed to achieve?

Implementing best practice in office-accommodation strategic planning and project implementation can achieve significant savings as well as enhance the delivery of government services to all Queenslanders.

The benefits of the OAMF include:

• ensuring the effective management and cost-effective provision of government-owned office accommodation
• maximising the utilisation of government-owned office accommodation
• aligning government office accommodation use with public-sector and private-sector best practice for office accommodation use
• facilitating auditing and benchmarking of government office accommodation by applying space and quality standards and performance indicators.

More information

Email the Queensland Government Accommodation Office at qgao.enquiries@epw.qld.gov.au for more information.