The passage of new NDIS laws must now be followed by an equally serious effort to build the skilled workforce Australians with disability rely on, the Health Services Union said today.
The HSU welcomes mandatory registration for NDIS providers and stronger whistleblower protections but said national registration of disability support workers should now follow, as well as proper qualifications, training and career pathways to lift standards across the sector.
HSU National Secretary Dustin Halse said the legislation represented significant change and should light the path for further reform to the sector.
“The Government deserves credit for taking on bad providers and strengthening safeguards in a system that desperately needs them,” Mr Halse said.
“We particularly welcome mandatory provider registration and stronger protections for workers who blow the whistle. We fought to ensure workers can go to their union when something is wrong without putting themselves at risk. But if we are serious about quality and safety the next logical step is worker registration.
“Disability support workers perform complex and incredibly important work. They should have recognised qualifications, access to proper training and professional standards that reflect the responsibility they carry every day.
“We would now like to ensure workers who deliver the NDIS and the unions that represent them have a genuine seat at the table during implementation.”
HSU NSW/ACT/QLD Secretary Gerard Hayes said workers were often the first to know when something was going wrong inside a disability service.
“A support worker who sees neglect, unsafe practices or fraud should be able to pick up the phone to their union without fear of losing their job,” Mr Hayes said.
“Good services depend on workers being confident enough to raise problems before they become disasters. Unions have always been an integral part of that safety net and these laws finally recognise it.”
HACSU Victoria State Secretary Paul Healey said provider registration would be far stronger if it was matched by professional recognition of the workforce itself.
“We have spent years telling governments that you cannot professionalise disability services while treating disability support work as low-skilled, disposable labour,” Mr Healey said.
“Worker registration gives us a pathway to proper qualifications, ongoing professional development and standards that workers and participants can have confidence in.
“Registration must be designed to lift workers up and not punish them. That means government funding the training, supervision and secure jobs people need to meet higher standards.”
HACSU Tasmania State Secretary Robbie Moore said the success of the reforms would be particularly important outside the mainland capitals, where workforce shortages already limit choice for people with disability.
“In Tasmania and other regional communities, a reform that looks good on paper can fall over very quickly if there simply aren’t enough skilled workers or viable providers to deliver it,” Mr Moore said.
“Our members know what thin markets actually mean: vacancies that cannot be filled, workers stretched across enormous distances and people with disability waiting too long for the support they need.
“People with disability deserve safe, reliable support wherever they live, and the workers providing that support deserve the training, pay and conditions that will keep them in the sector.”
MEDIA: Eliot Barham | 0423 921 200