Vic: Rolling stoppages by disabled carers hit regional Victoria

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2001
Vic: Rolling stoppages by disabled carers hit regional Victoria

MELBOURNE, Aug 1 AAP - A campaign of rolling stoppages at centres for the intellectually
disabled will spread to regional Victoria this week, the Health and Community Services
Union said today.

HACSU state secretary Lloyd Williams said a skeleton staff would operate for three
hours from 7am tomorrow at the Colanda Centre in Colac, and from 7am this Friday at all
services from Kyneton to Bendigo as part of the industrial action.

"Disability services in Victoria are in crisis because of the damage done over the
past nine years," he said.

"There is now a recruitment and retention crisis with the average age of the workforce
45 - there is a staff turnover rate of 18 per cent."

About 150 nurses and carers walked off the job for three hours last Sunday at Melbourne's
Kew Cottages to highlight a union push for a new enterprise agreement.

The HACSU wants minimum training and qualifications, improved safety for staff and
residents, reduced staff workloads and an eight per cent pay increase.

"Figures now show that the current staffing crisis means the government must recruit
almost 770 new staff per year to meet the turnover rate and just to stay afloat," Mr Williams
said.

Mr Williams said the stoppages would continue until the state government took the crisis
seriously, and was prepared to develop solutions and a plan.

A spokesman for Community Services Minister Christine Campbell said the government
had already committed about $2.6 million to the upgrade of working conditions for disabled
care workers.

"The Bracks government is offering a nine per cent pay rise to approximately 1,200
of the lowest paid disability workers, that's about one third of the workforce," he said.

"This offer will cost more than $2.6 million, and will give those workers more than
$1,700 extra per year on average."

But Mr Williams said the Bracks government had made disability carers an offer which
was an insult because it would reduce industry training and qualifications.

Mr Williams said the extended bans could eventually affect about 5,000 carers, who
look after almost 3,000 disabled residents across Victoria.

AAP db/clr/cjh/br

KEYWORD: DISABLED

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