DPTI Matters - 14 February 2020

A word from the Chief Executive

If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or concerns, please email them to telltony@sa.gov.au.

Apology Breakfast

It was great to have DPTI well represented at the Reconciliation SA 2020 Apology Breakfast yesterday.

Honouring the survivors of the Stolen Generations, a key highlight of the breakfast was the Yellaka Aboriginal Dance Group, which delivered a fusion of ancient traditional and contemporary Aboriginal dance, song and storytelling.

It has been 12 years since the historic National Apology to the Stolen Generations, which launched the journey we are all still on together. The breakfast was an important opportunity to share survivors’ stories and highlight the continuing need for truth-telling, healing and reparation.

Packed tables at the Reconciliation SA 2020 Apology Breakfast.

Light wait

We all know it’s not much fun when you get stopped at roadworks, particularly on a country run, so it’s nice to get some positive feedback on the way traffic controllers are handling the situation at one of our road projects on the Karoonda Highway.

The traffic controllers, from RAW Recruitment & Services, are interacting with the public during the stop/slow requirement and quite a few people have taken to social media to thank them for their efforts.

One post on a Facebook forum says “Great lollipop men there to keep you amused”. Another says “Worth going for a drive to see them in action”.

A further comment says “The guys were great. We all had a good laugh”.

Extra effort

Well done to Facilities Manager Michael Herbst, whose customer focus and commitment has been recognised in an expression of appreciation from Nuriootpa Primary School, one of the many government facilities we manage.

The praise came after Michael put in the effort to head into the school on a Saturday morning to help respond to flooding.

An email from the school principal says “He never makes us feel inadequate or that we are a bother to him and he always works with us to find the appropriate solution”.

This is a great representation of our values at DPTI.

Sharing information

DPTI Facilities Managers and service delivery staff from nine separate offices across metropolitan and regional South Australia recently came together at Grenfell Street for their fifth annual Facilities Management Workshop.

With 57 people in attendance this was a valuable opportunity for information sharing, troubleshooting and consolidating information on a range of topics.

Sharing learnings and responses across our teams is important to ongoing success and I encourage all to look for these opportunities.

Emergency access

One of the important tasks DPTI had in the recent bushfire emergencies was helping the Australian Defence Force to get vehicles to fires over roads that are not necessarily designed for their length, width or weight.

When ADF involvement was announced, our Road Access Unit had to urgently check data on roads and advise on how specific vehicles could safely move along them, delivering a rapid turnaround on permits.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Access team has recognised those efforts in a letter saying the time worked during and after hours had not gone unnoticed and had “allowed the Department of Defence to assist with the bushfires while remaining compliant and ensuring the safe movement of their vehicles”. Well done to the team involved.

Friday Flashback

Today we show the Wild West of roads that was the Norwood Parade back in 1961. The footage comes from a traffic survey and has been put to some music to help it move along. Look for all the hand signals as the cars stop quickly at the end.