Disability services
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:33): (1003) My question is directed to the Minister for Disability. Responsibility for supported independent living residences, SILs, used to fall to the states. In 2014, ahead of the NDIS rollout, then opposition leader Daniel Andrews promised that SILs would not be privatised. Two years later SILs were transferred to five private companies. Workers in SILs have retained the proper staffing ratios and protected training and supervision time embedded in their EBA as the state government has provided subsidies to fund them – hugely beneficial to SIL residents but not covered in individual NDIS packages. The additional funding runs out in December, Minister, putting all of those benefits at risk on the eve of Christmas. As this funding runs out in less than five months, what is the government proposing to do to address this distressing problem?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:34): I thank Mr Ettershank for his question and his interest in these matters, which we have discussed on a number of occasions. Obviously, in 2018 government-operated accommodation respite services were transferred to the non-government sector, and that was designed to deliver a successful transition to the NDIS in Victoria and provide for more choice and control over services and supports. I would note at the outset that the Victorian government’s contribution to the national disability insurance scheme is around $3 billion. Five non-government providers were chosen, with commercial contracts put in place that end, as Mr Ettershank said, on 31 December 2025. They were non-government providers. This was not seeking to privatise but was seeking, in the context of the national disability insurance scheme and what that meant for supported independent living, to assist in the transition of government-supported workers to non-government providers. There were indeed transition arrangements put in place to ensure that staff were supported through this change.
A phased approach was taken, and this included wages and conditions being protected until the end of the contract period, including transferring of incentive payments, secondment to their new provider rather than an immediate change in their employer, an offer of employment and acceptance process at the end of 2020 and then direct employment with their new provider from 1 January 2021. The final step in the transfer was to move the supported independent living funding from in-kind arrangements to direct NDIS plan funding for residents between February and June 2021. This was an important element of the transition to the national disability insurance scheme.
I would also note that the government worked collaboratively with the union through this process and that prior to the 2018 state election decision to transfer government-operated services the government worked collaboratively with those relevant employee representatives. Consultation is guided by an MOU between the government and those representatives relating to matters regarding that transfer process.
We know that this sector faces workforce challenges, and the NDIS review recommends the need to attract and retain and indeed train in order to be able to have for that retention a workforce that is responsive to participant needs and participant requests for support in a timely way. We are continuing to work with the Commonwealth and other states and territories to ensure that the recommendations of the national disability insurance scheme are implemented. I would also note that the Victorian government invests in this workforce. We have got the $202.9 million fighting for students with disability package, which was delivered through the 2023–24 budget, and that included $3.75 million allocated over four years to deliver a disability workforce strategy.
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:37): Thank you, Minister, for your response. I think we almost got to an answer there. Nationally, workforce turnover across the NDIS, particularly within supported independent living facilities, is atrocious, with one in four disability workers leaving the sector annually – three times higher than the overall Australian workforce. It impacts the quality of care in SILs, with dire consequences for residents, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Our Victorian SILs have the lowest workforce churn, as the EBA provides good wages and conditions and the capacity for career progression. It mandates staffing ratios and supervision. Victorian subsidies pay for this, as NDIS funding does not cover these benefits, nor will it. When the subsidy lapses there will be a mass exodus of disability support workers if this is not rectified. So I ask the minister: will she here and now publicly commit to maintaining this additional funding to protect disability workers entitlements and continue the delivery of quality care in SILs?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:38): I would refer Mr Ettershank back to my substantive answer to his substantive question, which did indeed answer his question and spoke to the fact that these were transition payments in the establishment of the national disability insurance scheme and the new measures around supported independent living, of which the state government is not a provider but did provide financial support for that transition period. SIL services are funded by the NDIS. Providers are regulated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and funding decisions such as SIL supports for NDIS participants are the responsibility of the NDIS. I would also note that the state government contributes $3 billion to the NDIS for the NDIS to undertake its role.
I, along with my other state and territory colleagues, am constantly working with the Commonwealth to ensure that the implementation of the NDIS review and indeed other recommendations that also came out of the disability royal commission, insofar as they are relevant, is in the best interests of each of the states, given that we do contribute, and Victoria is one of the largest, contributing $3 billion. But ultimately the matters that Mr Ettershank is referring to relate to SIL services funded by the national disability insurance scheme.