Thursday, 16 October 2025

 Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (17:34): (2013) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Disability, and the action that I seek is for the minister to demand an urgent meeting with the Commonwealth to protect the Victorian gold standard of disability care. Transferred providers say that they have one month of liquidity left. Seventy group homes have already shut and 580 more are at risk, and 5000 participants face homelessness. Meanwhile, 7500 disability support workers are now about to lose a third of their wage unless action is taken now.

In 2017, following the Victorian government’s privatisation of supported independent living (SIL) services, a $2.1 billion state subsidy was introduced to preserve the wages, conditions and quality standards that disability support workers, primarily represented by the Health and Community Services Union, fought for over decades. This critical subsidy is due to expire on 31 December 2025, and without a sustainable long-term funding solution from both state and federal governments, Victoria’s disability support system faces imminent collapse. Again, if action is not taken urgently, over 7500 disability support workers will lose more than one-third of their wages, risking widespread job losses and a devalued profession; up to 580 group homes housing people with already complex disabilities could close – 68 already have; nearly 5000 participants will lose the stable, high-quality care they depend on daily; families will be left without a support with no viable alternatives available; and Victoria’s hard-won gold standard in disability care, including mandatory training, safe staffing ratios and quality assurance will be dismantled. SIL providers are already closing homes, cutting services and exiting the market due to an unsustainable funding model. This is not just a policy issue, it is a human crisis affecting workers, participants and families across Victoria.

The Victorian government must act to prevent a short-term disaster by extending the current $2.1 billion wage subsidy beyond 2025 until the federal government commits to a structural reform – that is $500 million over two years; acknowledging their role as the provider of last resort, ensuring that all Victorians with a disability have access to stable housing and care; and providing certainty and stability to workers, families and providers as federal negotiations progress.

Just to finish it off, we want the state government to immediately extend the SIL subsidy beyond December 2025 for a two-year period at a cost of $500 million, demand that the Commonwealth re-cost plans for participants in Victorian SIL settings as over two-thirds are incorrectly costed, publicly commit to its role as provider of last resort for disability services in Victoria and commence immediate negotiation with the Commonwealth, including the employers, unions, families and advocacy organisations, to restructure funding arrangements for SIL.