Former NSW Businesslink boss leaves public service

The former chief executive of NSW shared services agency Businesslink, Albert Olley, has ended a more than decade-long career supporting the community services arm of the state government.

Olley has signalled a move into the consulting space, which will see him leave the NSW Department of Families and Community Services where he headed up its corporate services functions.

For six years Olley led Businesslink, the standalone IT and corporate services agency created to deliver consolidated back office support to the NSW community services and housing agencies.

He led the 670-odd person organisation through a 12-month rollercoaster ride, after a government proposal to abolish the agency was leaked in mid-2013. The slated dissolution was followed by dramatic cuts to staffing budgets just months later. 

But by April 2014, the state softened its stance and instead decided to merge the shared services group into the Families and Community Services cluster instead.

Businesslink staff - including Olley - kept their jobs. The chief executive transitioned into the role of executive director of business services at FACS, where he took on private sector customers like Australian Unity on top of the cluster agency clients.

Now Olley has decided to move out of the government sector altogether, taking up a post with corporate consultancy Business Aspect.

He said he had “kicked off the next stage” of his career.

The move means NSW FACS will be left to fill his shoes in the senior support services role, which answers to deputy secretary Margaret Crawford.

The department is currently at the business end of a cloud-based upgrade of its SAP ERP suite, to be hosted out of the GovDC data centres.