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We have a lot to talk about, so let’s get straight into this week's round of transition updates and good news stories.

Key dates

Please save the dates for these upcoming activities:

  • 17 October 2023 – QFES “Thank you event”
  • 23 October 2023 – Transition week townhall

Payroll/HR

We received a question this week about budgets, finance delegations and approvals. In terms of budget, this is to continue as BAU. Approval processes may change in terms of the delegate, this will need to be discussed with your manager post transition.

  • QFES Aurion termination date: 22 October 2023
  • Last pay run date in Aurion ESE (QFES): 22 October 2023 (fortnight period 9 October 2023 to 22 October 2023)
    • Pay date 18 October 2023
  • Appointment date in Aurion QPS: 23 October 2023
  • First pay run date in Aurion QPS: 3 November 2023 (fortnight period 23 October 2023 to 3 November 2023)
    • Pay date 1 November 2023

Other payroll information

  • Employees will be issued with a new QPS payroll/employee number.
  • Employees’ current payroll deductions/disbursements will be transferred to QPS.
  • QSS will notify QSuper, Remserv and Smart Salary of the transfer.
  • Employees can request historical pay slip information by contacting QSS payroll via the QSS Self Service Centre.
  • Income statement details will be viewable in MyGov for 2023-2024. For 2023-2024, employees will receive 2 income statements (QFES and QPS).

Leave balances

Activity

Responsibility

Key date

Fortnight ending 22 October 2023

Employees

Fortnight ending 22 October 2023

Transfer employees’ future dated leave and leave balances from Aurion ESE to Aurion QPS (excluding ATL)

QSS payroll team

Finalised by 17 November 2023

Take note of leave balances post-transition

Employees

Fortnight ending 17 November 2023

Update ATL balances in Timekeeper

Employees/QSS payroll team

Upon submission of final QFES timesheets

ICT transition

ICT Transition “CUT OVER” DAY

What is it?

During this transition, the ICT Transition team will progressively move your Microsoft Office365 content (email, calendars, contacts, OneDrive, MS Teams, SharePoint, and Local Network File Share) from the QFES domain to your new QPS domain.

This will enable your system access on Day 1. Once you have completed the ‘Get started’ tasks, you can continue working as usual.

Please note that the ICT Transition will occur in two phases: the corporate cut over (above) in October, and the systems cut over which is expected to occur next year.

When is it happening?

The ICT Transition for Disaster Management will occur in the week beginning Monday 23rd October 2023.

Each team member will be allocated (in agreement with their manager) to one of two transition groups – A or B. You will be notified of your allocation, once agreed with your manager.

Transition Group A Timeline

Transition Group A Timeline

Transition Group B Timeline

Transition Group B Timeline

What is required from me?

At this stage, you need to talk with your manager if you have any planned leave or major work activities occurring in the week beginning Monday 23 October. This may impact which transition group you are assigned to. Please ensure any conflicts are raised with ICT by Friday 13 October 2023.

Depending on which group you fall under will impact which day you will be unable to access any ICT systems from midday until the following day.

You may wish to speak with your line management about non-ICT related tasks that can be undertaken or alternative arrangements.

What support will I get?

The ICT Transition team and/or a local Technical Support Officer (TSO) will be available to support you through the Transition. Further information on Transition support will be described in the Disaster Management ICT Transition User Guide which was sent to you on Monday 9 October 2023.

ICT Transition Q&A Sessions

All transitioning team members will receive a series of meeting invitations to the ICT Transition Q&A sessions in the weeks beginning 9 and 16 October 2023. These sessions are designed to walk you through the ICT transition checklists, ‘Get ready’ (before transition) and ‘Get started’ (after transition), and answer any specific questions.

Whilst you will be invited to all sessions, you should only need to attend one session (as the same content will be covered in each).  Please choose a session that best suits your availability and come along armed with all your questions for the ICT team.

ICT ‘Citizen Development’ workshop

If your team indicated the use of Citizen Development applications (e.g., MS Forms, MS Streams, Power Apps, Power Automate, PowerBI),you will be invited to a dedicated a Citizen Development workshop in the week beginning 16 October. This is an essential opportunity to discuss what you need to do to prepare for the migration of these custom applications.

If you wish to be added to this workshop, please notify our team through the online feedback form.

Watch Desk members

Key transition activities and cut overs – Watch Desk Officers

QFES Aurion

24 October 2023Leave submissionsESS, Online and manual (paper) forms -Submitted and approved by the supervisor/manager for leave up to and including 22 October 2023 (manual forms sent to QFES Payroll email address)
6 October 2023Temporary ExtensionsESS and Online forms -Submitted and approved by delegated authority
24 October 2023Timesheets (Timekeeper)

For fortnight ending 22 October 2023:

Final QFES timesheet -send to QFES Payroll email address

For fortnight ending 3 November 2023:

Employees will receive base pay from QPS and final payments from QFES timesheet payments.

This fortnight will be the final payroll adjustments (e.g., penalties, leave, overtime) from Aurion ESE (QFES)

For fortnight ending 17 November 2023:

All payments will be processed by Aurion QPS payroll

25 October 2023Last date access Aurion ESE 

QPS Aurion

1 November 2023Employees receive first pay in QPS Aurion (ESS)Employees to log into QPS ESS to view payslip.
30 October 2023 TBCQPS Aurion (ESS) access information requested

Aurion QPS to submit request for ESS access to QSS Customer Support

QSS Customer Support will provide employees with Aurion QPS ESS user IDs and instructions on how to set up their password during the day

By Fortnight ending 17 November 2023

View leave balances

Employees will be able to view leave balances by 17 November 2023 however not all leave balances will be available in QPS for the first fortnight. QSS will continue to reconcile closing balances in Aurion ESE and transfer to Aurion QPS.

We recommend employees to take a screen shot of leave in ESE ESS on 20 October 2023

Watch Desk Officers Timesheets template

Watch Desk Officers will need to complete a timesheet as per the below example.

Watch Desk Officers Timesheets Template

Leave requests – Watch Desk Officers

Important: Watch Desk officers will no longer be able to submit their leave requests via paper timesheets as previously done for QFES. This will need to be done via a leave application form.

Get Ready Week

Get Ready week is when we ask Queenslanders to prepare for all extreme weather, like storms, bushfires, cyclones, and heatwaves.

On Monday 9 October at 5 am, bleary eyed but caffeinated – the RIT Change and Communications team, A/Chief Superintendent Rob Graham and myself attended Suncorp Stadium to launch Get Ready Week with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, QRA and our partner agencies. We did a live cross on the Today Show with Tim Davies, and no one fumbled their words or said anything embarrassing, so I consider that a win.

And on a side note - they say you should never meet your heroes, however luckily for JT both Rob and I were warm and welcoming when he asked us to take a picture. He’s only human guys, we can’t blame him for getting nervous. This was a fantastic event to be part of, and I enjoyed seeing all the emergency services agencies come together to launch Get Ready Week, but special shout out to the SES volunteers doing some vertical stunts!

Get Ready Week Image

Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s 2023 campaign is again asking households to plan ahead and pack an emergency kit, so they are ready when the weather turns bad. If you are happy to help support the campaign, please find see below link to a communications kit with a range of assets, plus some suggested copy. Even better, it would also be wonderful if you could directly share content that you see across their Instagram and Facebook channels throughout the week.

Click here for Assets

Here you will find:

  • Email Signature Banners
  • Facebook Cover
  • Social media tiles
  • A3 Poster for office space and libraries

To see what activities are happening, head to our website here: https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/get-ready-queensland-week-2023

Contact getready@qra.qld.gov.au if you have questions or would like to chat.

Get Ready Advert

Weekly wrap up

New positions

There are still a number of positions being advertised within Emergency Management and Coordination Command.

Please check out SmartJobs to see if there are any new roles that you might be interested in.

Send us content!

If you would like to include any good news stories or happy snaps, please email RIT.DMProjects@police.qld.gov.au

Questions and support

Given the critical importance of the reform program and the transition, we encourage you to actively engage with the Team. Reach out to us, seek guidance, and share any concerns or questions you may have regarding the transition.

We encourage you to visit the Disaster Management ForGov website for more information and to submit your questions. We are actively updating the Disaster Management FAQs and myth busters as a point of truth for all of your transition related queries.

Alternatively, contact our team through our online feedback form.

Thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to the success of the disaster management transition.

Sincerely,

John Bosnjak

BUSINESS REFORM COORDINATOR

REFORM IMPLEMENTATION TASKFORCE