An internal survey has revealed Border Force staff have little faith in the senior management.

In the wake of former commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg’s sacking for helping his girlfriend get a job with the agency, a survey of Australian Border Force (ABF) staff views obtained under Freedom of Information has painted a picture of ongoing cultural issues and frustration at stagnant wages.

The survey reportedly revealed staff were having issues with agency leaders including:

  • Less than a third of workers felt senior staff set a clear, strategic direction
  • Only one in three staff thought they were paid fairly for their work
  • Just a quarter thought their senior executives were of a high quality
  • Just over one fifth said communication from higher up was effective

The CPSU says the results are “striking, but no surprise”.

“Frankly, the place is a mess,” union secretary Nadine Flood told the ABC.

“What government has done to [immigration department] and Border Force staff is frankly grotesque,” Ms Flood said, in reference to the lack of a pay rise for workers since 2013.

ABF has conceded it has “engagement issues” with staff, but insists its workforce problems have not weakened its ability to protect Australians.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s John Coyne says the creation of the ABF super-department involved huge changes, so the results are unsurprising.

“We're seeing an organisation that is in a massive state of flux and change, it's two years into an eight-year change program, and they're the results we'd expect to see at the moment,” Dr Coyne said.

“The key performance indicators are being achieved and excelled at, so what we really need to do here is build the morale of that organisation.”