National Disability Insurance Agency: Relocating A Larger Office Space

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) relocated its national office from Canberra to Geelong in 2014. However, NDIA needed a new space that could house all its 1,200 employees, currently occupying 11 properties across the Geelong Central Business District.

With the lack of A-grade locations in Geelong, NDIA, along with the Department of Human Services (DHS), crafted a joint tender for a new building. They subsequently engaged the Cushman & Wakefield Workplace Solutions team for advice.

Cushman & Wakefield rolled out the project in three phases between March 2017 and May 2019.

Through the project we provided the following end-to-end services:

• Property and workplace strategy
• Communications plan
• Employee behavioural change programme
• Decommission activities for sites previously part of NDIA’s property portfolio
• Move management programme including a seamless relocation with minimal disruption to core business
• Employee engagement programme
• Block and stack plan for allotting space, considering new and existing tenants
• Space allocation for workstations, lockers, storages, end-of-trip facilities, and car parking

NDIA finalised an A-grade five-story building with 13,680 net leasable area. It started relocating to the new office in April 2019.

All employees adopted a clean desk policy, resulting in staff working flexibly at a ratio of 1:1.2. The building has also incorporated various Disability Discrimination Act-compliant features, ensuring accessibility in the workplace.