Budget delivers reforms for health, disability and aged care but more urgency needed: HSU

HSU National Secretary Lloyd Williams said the commitment was welcome but the pace was not.

“Aged care workers must be recognised as the skilled professionals they are,” Mr Williams said.

“Registration means minimum qualifications, protected titles, and critically a path for workers to build real careers in aged care.

“This will translate to better care for older Australians and a reform that will be a game-changer for the sector, but an ageing population simply can’t wait two years for it.

“HSU members are the people who do this work every day. They must be at the table as this framework is built.”

Mr Williams also flagged concern at the absence of broader aged care workforce investment.

“Demand for aged care workers is only going one way. The government cannot keep growing demand while starving the workforce that meets it,” he said.

The HSU praised the Budget’s fair and measured tax reforms that will provide real relief for members across health, aged care and disability.

The HSU also welcomed commitments to remove dodgy operators from the NDIS market, including $182.6 million over four years to introduce mandatory registration of high-risk providers and $49.4 million over four years to commission new plan management and support coordination services.

The government confirmed $3 billion over five years to establish Foundational Supports outside the NDIS – matched by states and territories to a total of $6 billion – along with a $2 billion Commonwealth contribution toward the $4 billion Thriving Kids program.

“The devil is in the detail. Until we see how alternative pathways for participants will operate in practice, we remain cautious about what this means for people with disability and the workforce that supports them,” Mr Williams said.

“The $36.2 billion in cuts to the NDIS will leave many workers and participants deeply concerned. Key questions remain unanswered: how will these programs be delivered, and how will the government ensure it has the workforce to deliver them effectively?

“We cannot afford to design the exit from the NDIS the same way the scheme itself was built – on the run, without a plan. These reforms must be co-designed with all parts of the disability sector: workers and their unions, participants and their representative organisations, and providers and their peak bodies. Consultation is not enough.”

Mr Williams said the HSU also had serious concerns about the allied health workforce implications of redirecting children and neurodivergent participants away from the NDIS.

“The Thriving Kids initiative and other funded support streams arising from this diversion raise real questions about the role, value and future of allied health workforces.”

The HSU expressed disappointment at the absence of funding to end placement poverty for allied health students, with no expansion of the Commonwealth Paid Prac initiative.

“Allied health students will continue to struggle to complete their studies due to the real cost of unpaid placement, and that directly jeopardises our allied health workforce pipeline,” Mr Williams said.

“The long-awaited National Allied Health Workforce Strategy must be delivered now. These workers are an essential component of Australia’s health, aged care and disability system and they deserve to be treated as such.”

The HSU welcomed increased Commonwealth funding to public hospitals and called for continued progress toward reinstating 50-50 funding contributions between the Commonwealth and states and territories.